Scrooge

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I am one of the biggest Scrooges I know. Seriously, I probably wouldn't put out any christmas decorations if J weren't here. When he does get his chance to deploy, I probably won't put any out.

I don't really know when I started to dislike christmas. It was a slow process, with years of singing the same songs over, and over, and over, in church and school and various choirs. Years of cramming 20 or so people into our little living room for christmas dinner. The ugly sweaters, the bad gifts, the poorly written christmas letters.

The one part I don't really mind is buying gifts for my family. It's usually a fun process to pick out a gift for them and do a little exchange.

So, considering I don't like christmas, or snow, or cold, what do I like about winter?

Chanukah.

Yes, in the wintertime, I become a big ol' jew. Chanukah never had all the fuss and hubbub, no annoying songs played over and over. We would always do an open house for Chanukah, so we did still have 20+ people, but not all at the same time. And I always got to help in the kitchen, which kept me busy.

I love the easy tradition of Chanukah. You say the blessings, light the candles, and enjoy! I tried my own Chanukah open house last year, and it went ok, but things are just kinda crazy this year. So J and I will still do our own Chanukah dinner one night, with latkes and matzo ball soup. We will enjoy a quiet holiday without a lot of fuss. I even have a CD of Chanukah music we can listen to this year.

This year, my in-laws are coming for Christmas. The huge upside to having them is that there is no big dinner to do. Their tradition, which I love, is to have a table full of noshing goodies. That's cheese, crackers, chips, dips, veggies, maybe some fruits or little salads. You relax and munch.

What I'm really looking forward to is next year. We've decided that next year, we will say no to christmas guests. We're going to save up and plan a week long christmas vacation in Steamboat Springs, CO, where we had our honeymoon. Don't know if the pets will go with us yet. Well, Duke would probably stay here and have someone check on him. But it might be fun to take Remy along.

I must admit, I'm kinda excited to see how Remy reacts to snow. And Duke, too. We've been letting Duke out in the back yard with Remy and he's loving it. He doesn't try to leave the yard, just explores out there. So now we can see how he reacts to snow.

So, Chanukah starts this Wednesday at sundown. I get to enjoy a full Chanukah and have a small break before christmas starts. Thank goodness the in-laws will be staying at a hotel, so I can relax with a glass of wine before bed each night. ;)

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