The female cat sat on the fence in the moonlight a few weeks before Christmas, wishing on the stars, she wished she had a few lovely little kittens, so she made her wish aloud..."All I want for Christmas is 3 little kittens!"......The local Tom cat overheard her wish and came out of the alley singing......."Here comes Santa Claus!".

Isn't Christmas over yet???

Look, it isn't that I don't love the holidays, in fact I do.  I truly like being with loved ones and having a great dinner and just reminscing about holidays past....but there is so much stress, panic, worry, selfishness, indulgence tied up in Christmas anymore that its hard to find joy in it at all.

Years ago, families got together and had Christmas holiday fare in one families kitchen......while all the women got together cooking and preparing, the men got together and drank and wrapped presents and hung mistletoe and the children decorated the trees and impatiently awaited Christmas morning.  Simple life, simple ideas, lots of co-operation and love and togetherness.

Now days its charge the credit cards up to the max and hope that each one doesn't go over its limit.  You spend as much on wrapping paper, boxes, tissue and ribbon as you do on the gift itself, sometimes more!!  There is no simple life, there is only lots of gadgets, expensive toys and jewelry and clothes and CD's and DVD's and whatever it is that everybody wants.  Damn what happened to one stocking filled with a few little treasures and some fruit, candy and nuts?????

I am as guilty as the next person of doing all of the above!  Believe me, my credit cards are now tight as ticks waiting to explode after the holidays!!  My daughter is getting a ton of stuff, all of which she doesn't really need, but wants just the same.  I buy stuff for everybody and ship it out to family members in other states so that they know I am thinking of them fondly during this time of year.  I can't seem to be satisfied with just sending a card and a hello!  I stress, I worry it isn't good enough, I worry they aren't going to like it, I worry that I am being a bit stupid in spending so much money and how am I going to pay for it, and pay bills and mortgage and whatever else comes up!!  Sheesh, it sort of takes the Merry out of Christmas.

But, to be honest, I still love it.  I love the music, I love the colorful lights and the trees with the tinsel and the ornaments and the bows and the star or angel on top of it.  I love the wrapping paper (especially the ones with Santa on it, the old fashioned ones, Father Christmas I think is what he is called).

I love the idea that a baby was born, while a huge sparkling star hung in the night sky to give a sign of his coming.  A baby, who was born to two very poor but proud people, a baby who grew up to be a carpenter and loved his parents but also loved his creator and knew he had a mission and that no matter how sad, how painful or how lonely this mission was, he was sent to do that.  One of the greatest gifts of alltime was the life that was born on that day........who later died to fulfill a propecy of salvation for the world.

Whether you believe the story is true, or whether its just a nice myth that holds some sentiment to you because it is the reason we celebrate the season, you have to admit its a lovely thought that one man might give up his life just to give us something.  

I guess that is why at this time, no matter how stressful or how worried I get, I always think of those who are away from home, fighting for our country in a foreign land who lay down their lives for us so we can enjoy freedom.  The freedom to put up and decorate trees and believe in a story of a boy King and give gifts in his memory.  That to me is what is important, that we have kept the ideal that giving up your life for what you find precious and good in mankind is still strong and that you want to protect and save as many as you can because you believe freedom is important.