It's the Most Wonderful/Controversial/Emotionally Charged/Miraculous/Crazed Time of the Year!!!

You know you're in the South when...it's the day before Christmas Eve, and you have to turn the A/C on in your car! Well- to be honest- I didn't HAVE to turn it on but I did anyway because it was a tad warm and I was sitting in traffic and I didn't want the meat I had just bought to go bad before I got it home & into the fridge. It took me about ten minutes just to get out of the Target parking lot. Yikes! I rued the fact that I hadn't brought a cooler with me to keep it cold on the way home. How fewlish of me.

This afternoon I'm going to make Brad's Famous Eggnog Fudge as a gift for some of our neighbors. I can't wait to taste test it! [Editor's note: This is Brad. Actually, I made it. After spending almost two hours searching for white chocolate chips. Target was out. CVS was out. Kroger saved the day. Now back to Claire.]

On a completely different note, all the hype about Christ being taken out of Christmas is getting to me. Yes- I KNOW it's wrong, it's outrageous, it's maddening, it's whatever. I know, I know, I KNOW! I know what's going on and what people's points/arguments/agendas are on both sides. But personally, the bottom line for me is: it's stupid. Nobody who KNOWS what Christmas is really all about is going to forget it- the traditions lie too deep for that. And people who DON'T know what it's all about- well, they must live under a rock...and saying "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays" is not going to inform them of the true meaning of Christmas.

I mean- come ON! Does anybody besides Lowe's or Target refer to Christmas trees as Holiday trees? Do people really think that in the households of America, there is a great tide of change sweeping through the Everyman's vocabulary right now? I mean- are parents really going to say, "Okay, kids! It's time to decorate the....Holiday Tree!" or "Let's all gather round the Holiday Tree to open our presents!" ??? It sounds so lame! I guess I'm a little annoyed with everyone, whether it's those in the Merry camp, or the Happy camp. Good grief. Calm down, everyone. Nobody can change what Christmas is- no matter how big they are or what they do. It's like trying to call the sky the Whatsit. Nope- it's still the sky. No matter what anyone says. I'm sick of all the hype. Jesus was born as a human being to save you. Period. Accept it and be grateful and shut up! There- you just celebrated Christmas.

To continue in the same paranoid vein of thinking that is driving me cah-razy: next thing you know- we won't be able to say Valentine's Day because Mr. Valentine was a saint -- OOO! OO! Religious connotations! A saint! We'll have to call it Love Day or Heart Day or something. Same thing with Saint Patrick's Day: it will become Four Leaf Clover Day. And then Easter will have to become Spring Day or Bunny Day or Warm Fuzzy Day...and so on...Rargh. If people really want dumbed-down, meaningless holidays, they can have them but don't inflict the hysteria on me, please.