I just wanted to wish everyone, followers or just other WordPress bloggers stopping by for a visit, a merry Christmas!
I hope you have a wonderful day today, however you get to spend it.
I’ll be all over town with different parts of Brad’s family, making the best of it.
Right now though, I’m watching A Christmas Story for the first time ever. GASP. I know. Please don’t judge me too hard.
Today is the first official day of my Christmas vacation. We are closed for two weeks, and I get to sit at home drinking coffee, cuddling with my dog, catching up on my DVR shows (woo, Masterchef Junior!), and getting myself into the Christmas spirit!
I’m done Christmas shopping, most likely. I’m pondering getting something small for Brad’s sisters but they have expensive taste and I have no idea what to get for them. I’ve wrapped all but a few presents for Brad’s family. My gifts for my side of the family went out via the USPS on Saturday.
I’d mentioned in a previous post about how hard it’s been to be excited about Christmas this year. The holidays are about tradition, and for the past 23 years, I’ve spent Christmas Eve with my dad’s side of the family, and Christmas day with my mom’s side. This year, Christmas is with Brad’s family.
I think I’ve finally reminded myself that growing up means things are going to change. I’ll be married next year, and eventually we will probably have a family of our own. One day, the new tradition could mean Christmas at OUR house!
When traditions change, I like to think that it’s a measure of progress. My life is on its way up! And for right now, while I will definitely miss spending Christmas with my family, I have to remember that Brad’s family will be my family too. And everyone has family members where they just kind of have to grin and bear it. Maybe one day I won’t have to do that. That’s my wish this Christmas.
On a happier note, this is my favorite time of the year for television! Everywhere you turn, it’s Christmas movies!
My top three Christmas movies:
I’m also a big lover of Christmas music, though I’ll be honest. I prefer the more modern renditions of the classics. My go-to this Christmas has been Casting Crowns’ Christmas album Peace on Earth. It’s my absolute favorite!
I got an idea for a Christmas story that I might write while I’m on vacation about the holidays. The good, the bad, the ugly. I’ll share it here when I write it! I also really want to get some stuff done with my novel, Cover Up. I haven’t edited the document in 11 days now, according to G-docs.
Gasp! I know! I’m on a timeline for myself. And I need that thing done by the end of January! So I’ve gotta get some work done. Guess I need to make some rules. Like 2,000 words before I can go FINALLY watch the last Hunger Games movie tomorrow.
So here’s a toast to Christmas. 
I hope yours is as stress-free and as good of a time as possible. If not, well, you can hide vodka in a water bottle.
This week is clearly sidestepping to a more personal tone. I will get back to writing about writing soon! And eventually finish the book I started (writing and reading lol).
I’m trying to be excited about Christmas this year.
The weather is great, just like when I grew up in Texas. Christmas this year in SW Virginia is forecasted to be 74° F. How great is that?
Well, some would argue it’s not. But I for one am glad I have not had to pull my winter clothes out of the closet yet!
I hate winter. I only like the snow about once a year, and ONLY if I’m not expected to venture out of my apartment.
My dog is adorable in the snow though (well she’s adorable all the time but just look!). This was the one big snowfall we got last year. I was able to hide and chill an entire bottle of wine in it!
Xena in the snow!
Weather aside, the biggest suck of all this year is it’s the first time I don’t get to spend Christmas with my family. We alternate holidays right now (as long as we can), so my family got Christmas last year. Brad gets his this year.
My post from Monday gives a glimpse of why I’m not super excited to spend the day with Brad’s family. Will I do my best to have a good time? ABSOLUTELY. Please don’t get the idea that I’m going to make myself have a terrible time over there!
I’m going to miss all the traditions back in Texas though. Christmas Eve with Dad’s side of the family, usually involved tamales! Christmas morning breakfast and present opening, and Christmas dinner with Mom’s side of the family. The holidays are always a huge family affair.
I’m not 100% on the plans this year. I’m just hoping we can all have a good time and do our best to hold back the resentment.
All I want for Christmas is for Brad’s family to let me feel like I’m part of them. That I don’t have to feel awkward going to grab a soda out of the fridge, or a pack of Goldfish out of the cabinet. If I can do it at my friend’s, I should be able to do this at my in-laws too!
Christmas also stresses me out because I’ve surrounded myself with some very financially stable people who like to give for Christmas. 
Brad is getting me a $400 gun this year (woo! Pew pew!). I’m probably getting him a video game and some jeans. Or a wallet. He doesn’t care what he gets. His list is always practical. But I feel like my gifts never stand up to his.
And maybe that’s just how it’s always going to be. Our first Christmas together (we’d been dating a month), he bought me a huge pink stuffed unicorn with a diamond necklace around its neck, and a $100 gift card to Kohl’s.
I bought him a phone case. And he loved it!
Yeah, he’s definitely a giver.
I quit my second job in October for reasons I have seriously considered calling corporate on, but I don’t care anymore. It was my extra spending money, about $300-400 a month. I had to apply to lower my student loan payments (from 298 to 65!). I’m not in the best place financially, and I can’t go into debt buying Christmas presents. It’s how my parents got into financial trouble.
But gosh. I feel so bad only spending $20-30 a person when I know they’re spending more.
I can’t believe Christmas is next Friday. Or that the last day to ship USPS Flat Rate boxes is Monday.
So that’s where I’m at right now. I’m trying to not dread Christmas this year. It should be the happiest holiday of the year! Or maybe that’s New Year’s because it’s socially acceptable to get drunk and feel like it’s a clean slate come midnight. Who knows.
Tell me: What are you doing for Christmas this year? Are you looking forward to it?
A new laptop.
I mean, that’s not all I want for Christmas. My list is actually pretty extensive of things I need (mostly clothes. I really need new sweaters for winter – although I’m hoping this is my last real winter…we’ll see about that), but I want to write!
(I won’t lie, I also want to be able to play The Sims again)
Right now, my laptop is a clunky Dell Inspiron that I bought the summer of 2010, right before I left for college. It’s gone through it’s share of drama, including a large-scale malware attack (perpetrated by me trying to watch episodes of ‘House’ for free on shady Internet websites) that resulted in it being completely reformatted.
It’s miraculously still alive, however it’s on its last legs. Right now, I can’t install any new software, I can’t open any Microsoft Office programs, it won’t recognize my iPhone so I can’t put new music on it (frownyface), it will not play videos, the sound doesn’t work, it has to stay plugged in or it’ll die within 5 minutes…the list goes ON AND ON.
It’s time for that computer to have a proper burial. But I need a new one first. I can write on it still (and I did during NaNo this year), but only online via Google Docs.
I can tell you what I wish I could have. Definitely on the Christmas list of my dreams, but I so bad want a Macbook. I had one in high school supplied by the school as a test to see if a “Digital Campus” could work. (Considering all the restrictions we ended up having by the time we graduated, I sincerely doubt it worked.) It’s just too bad they start over $900. Nobody is going to buy that for me. I’ll get one one day. I don’t need a Macbook to keep succeeding at writing. But someday down the road, my student loan payments won’t eat up half of my pay every month, and I can splurge on something like this.
So we’ll see. You can find a good laptop for $300 or less. The other big thing on my Christmas list costs more (possibly), but I can’t say for sure yet which one I want more at the moment.
If you have recommendations, please send them my way!
The Caffeinated Writer 
