Well, it's 5am Christmas Eve morning, my house is still quiet, everything is pretty much done and it's kind of nice to reflect...

My dad used to go out every year on this Christmas eve day to the stores. Not to shop, he was an accountant, well prepared and always on time - but simply to watch amused as other people raced the holiday clock. Of course, he had no sympathy either for idiots who ran their fuel tanks on empty and were caught gas-less at the side of the road. I learned a lot from him - and even though he's long gone now, I still run my own gas tank on E for as long as I can just to bait him.

My mom approached Christmas with all the wonder of a kid. I remember late one Christmas eve, having finally fallen asleep after hours of tossing in excitement, she snuck in to wake me to see the first snow fall of the year. It was magical. It was also the same year my brother found his first 10 speed bike under the tree. He was so thrilled he even got a little emo. And even more emo yet when he discovered he'd have to test drive it in the basement because of the snow. I think he's still bitter.

And somewhere, there's least 15 years of home movies, 'produced' by my dad, of my brother & me emerging from our bedrooms on Christmas morning. Same clip every year. We always pretended we'd just rolled out of bed, but really we'd already been prepped like movie stars. Brushed teeth, scrubbed, curls combed out - feigning absolute annual surprise at the Christmas tree surrounded with gifts. Somehow it never grew old.

***

I don't really know how it happens, maybe we just grow up or grow cynical or something, but it's easy to lose the wonder of this season. And in the stress and drama of life, forget how very much there is celebrate. The past, the future, the people we love and have loved, our successes and not so successes and all the things we learn along the way...

(...oh i have to stop now, before i make myself sick...)

Anyways, my car's on E, Superstore is open 24 hours, and I think I'm going to go out and watch the harried shoppers. And who knows, maybe tonite it will snow. (plz no!)

Merry Christmas.