24 Days to Christmas - Let the Countdown Begin!

Well friends, December is finally upon us. I am now allowed to decorate to my hearts content. Not that I haven't already tried. Some (the more sneakily placed/hotly defended items) has remained, others have been put back in the closet. Until today.

Well, technically.

I won't be able to do any real decorating until Wednesday at the earliest and in all likelihood may either do it Thursday of Friday evening.

Oh well. Either way, come the weekend this place is going to be Christmas Central!

Today's topic I think should be about the big guy himself, Santa!

I'm not a religious person, otherwise I would throw in some info about Jesus and his birth but I didn't grow up learning about that so to me, Christmas is all commercial. That sounds so shallow :s That's not true...Christmas to me is not about the gifts (well, I mean obviously a little but anyone would be lying if they said it wasn't fun to buy and receive gifts) but more about the feeling I get this time of year. Being able to spend time with friends and family. It's just such a great time.

But I digress...

Santa:

The big guy in red who lives up in the North Pole with the Mrs., tons of elves, and reindeer. And who's image was not created by Coca-Cola but only popularized. The legend comes to us from the St. Nicolas of ancient times who delivered presents to good boys and girls. P.S. I tried to wikipedia a better history but it's just confusing. I always thought St. Nicholas was of Dutch origin but wikipedia tells me he's Greek...well, we all know how reliable wikipedia is...even though it's probably one of my top sources for info.....oops.

Regardless, St. Nick gathers all the toys his elves have been making all year round and sets out in his sleigh on December 24th, pulled by his 8 reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Doner, and Blitzen. And Rudolph. And Olive. You know, Olive? The other reindeer? Oy.

Jolly old St. Nick enters homes through the chimney, where little boys and girls have put up their stockings to be filled. He eats the cookies and drinks the milk that has been set out for him, and - if you're like my family - he passes along the carrots to his reindeer. One time I actually convinced myself that I heard Santa put the empty milk glass back on the table. I swear I heard something.

Then, on the 25th, the kids wake up and run to the tree to see what Santa has brought them. My sister and I (up until last year) used to sleep in the same room on Christmas eve (my favourite night of the year) and wake up together to go look at our stockings. The worst part was trying to get our Dad up so we could start opening presents. Wait, no I take it back. The worst part was waiting for my dad to open his gifts. He'd still have a pile of like 25 presents and Robin and I would have opened all of ours. Excrutiating.

Anyway, a sneak peak of what's to come!

Until tomorrow, Happy Holidays!