Let The Season Begin! Black Friday? Cyber Monday? RECESSION?? I Don't Think So.

(Pic #1-At the end of a long day of Christmas decorating, modeling and ornament slapping, Izzy stakes his place under the tree, calling it his own for the season...as he does EVERY season!)

(Pic #2-Buddy and Izzy model as gifts under the tree so I could see what lovely packages will look like once I start to wrap them!) (Pic #3-Tripod takes a breather from all the festivities!)
(Pic #4-Geordie sure looks excited about being in his Christmas decorating costume! He transforms in to GEORDIE THE REINDOG this time of year!)

This year, I didn't do the "Black Friday" shopping extravaganza. I learned today there was a "new" shopping day added to the Christmas season. Out of one side of the mainstream media mouth screams RECESSION and out of the other SHOP! SHOP! SHOP! I tend to think there is no recession, based on things around here. The real estate folks are whining that the market is non-existent, but perhaps the public finally got smart and said they are simply not going to pay super-inflated prices for property...especially here on the coast. I tend to think that when things become more sensible, the market will pick right back up again. Then the nice MSM (mainstream media) folks can file the recession story away in the same file that says California is falling into the sea and that the North Pole is going to melt totally away by the time we turn around twice.
Considering those things, I did get the Christmas shopping bug and started checking out things online. As I said, I learned about a new shopping day and it has been dubbed "CYBER MONDAY." WHAT? Well, there it is again! A 'created day' to spend money that the TV continues to say that we don't have. Confusing? Well, yeah it is, but I dealt with it appropriately and went cyber-shopping! That makes me laugh as it reminds me of an old Jim Stafford song that has the famous line "you can take a trip and never leave the farm!" He had no idea just how prophetic that line would eventually be for me! I have a few of my favorite sites to shop...Sportsman's Guide is one of them. They've got tons of stuff and it's not all for men either! I find lots of gift treasures from that site that I know exactly who would love them. Even my mom is doing a lot of catalog and online shopping this year. It's easy. You can think about the selections. You're not fighting traffic and mall mobs. It's great for me. I'm in my jammies just surfing away for JUST the right item and the world is literally my shopping oyster!
Instead of going shopping on "Black Friday," I put up my Christmas tree. It was very relaxing and enjoyable. I took my time, relished all the ornaments that I sadly put away last year. When I finished, I loved the result. Once upon a time, putting up a Christmas tree this early would have seemed outrageous, but nowadays, we barely get through Labor Day and out comes CHRISTMAS! For me anymore, it's like one great big wonderful season of celebration from Thanksgiving to Christmas, so I really don't have a problem with it all.
Today, I put out the better part of the decorations for the inside of the house. I had plenty of help, as the pictures indicate. In fact, I had two crash test dummies who were willing to be "presents" so I could see what presents will look like under the tree! TEE! HEE! HEE! Buddy and Izzy looked positively charming all cuddled under the tree. Heck, I might wrap them both up and give them away between now and December 24! I think anyone would be happy to receive either one of them!
I absolutely love the Christmas season. What's not to love? There are so many beautiful things to see, so many special things to do and it's a time to continue the sentiments of Thanksgiving, with the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
That makes me think of another point about "THE MEDIA." They want everyone NOT to mention the word CHRISTMAS, yet they want to build our entire economic health based on the very holiday they're trying to snuff out. Even poor ol' Santa has been affected. I've heard you're not even supposed to mention the jolly old elf in schools now. Just "winter" things...like snowmen, penguins and snowflakes. COME ON PEOPLE! Have we completely taken leave of our senses? Life is tough enough as it is. To simply stifle the magic of the Christmas season is, well, UN-AMERICAN!
I fear that the next generations of children will never experience the magic that Christmas brought to me as a child. I remember hoping that Santa might have gotten the dates all wrong somehow and that maybe, JUST MAYBE, he might have shown up early at my house! I'd tip-toe down the hallway, my heart beating fast and peek into the living room only to see "the living room." Santa always managed to keep a perfect schedule, which was no small feat. There were no Palm Pilots way back when..and certainly no GPS devices! No computers to get directions! Nothing! Just Santa and Rudolph making their way across the world...in one night. I still believe in Santa Claus and I want to make that perfectly clear right out of the gate. He could be reading my blog and I could have blown it right here in there 11th hour!
So, while the mainstream media spreads gloom and doom, tries to squelch the reason for this wonderful season, then hypocritically begs us as an American public to spend money we don't have on things we don't need, I'll just ignore them, select gifts from my heart to those I love and celebrate their places in my life. I'll anxiously await Marah and Kevin coming home so that Marah and I can bake goodies, watch "A CHRISTMAS STORY" over and over as well as all our other Christmas favorites (Charlie Brown Christmas and Christmas Vacation!) and I will thank God for the many blessings we have had this year, and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Yep. I said it. How about that? CHRISTMAS IS A CHRISTIAN HOLIDAY! Please don't cover up and hide behind politically correct behaviors this year. Now, don't jump ahead of me here. Because WE respect the beliefs of others as our founding fathers asked us to, don't compromise your own beliefs as a result of what politics and the MSM tell us. THINK FOR YOURSELF! CELEBRATE! LOVE EVERYONE! Allow yourself to enjoy an absolutely GORGEOUS Christmas Season.
Find the symphony in your area and GO! Many of them have a canned food drive...check ahead of time and if that's going on in your town, contribute. It's the season of giving...and of receiving. By giving of yourself, you will receive a peace that will carry you until...well...next Christmas!
LET THE SEASON BEGIN! NO BAH HUMBUG'ERS ALLOWED HERE!

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