I'm not skipping Christmas, but I'm avoiding it

I’m in denial that Christmas is approximately six short weeks away.  My Halloween decorations are still up and shall remain up until after Thanksgiving.

I refuse to tune in to Mixmas, and I haven’t shopped for the first present yet. 

There’s just one problem with being in denial—reality catches up too soon! 

And the reality is, Christmas is about six weeks away…which means there isn’t much time to get ready. 

Maybe I will do some online browsing.  I’d really like to avoid Walmart ALTOGETHER. 

What do you think?  Can I make Christmas happen by shopping local, or, in case of an emergency, online? 

We’ll see I guess.

And here’s more miserly spirit…I’ve about determined that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because there are no expectations except that you give thanks—and eat!!

I can handle that. 

I feel kind of guilty for feeling this way about Christmas.  Oh, I expect the “spirit” will assail me at some point during the season, but I also suspect I’m going to secretly be longing to skip all the fuss at times. 

I feel guilty because Christmas is about Christ’s birth.  I should be excited and filled with wonder about the sacrificial nature of God’s gift to the world.

The trouble is, it’s hard to focus on that for the other stuff society requires of us.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many things about Christmas I love.  Sometimes I just wish it didn’t roll around so fast—once every two or three years would be about right.  J