It's That Time of the Year

It's time to put up the Christmas tree, decorations and lights. It's time to dust off the baking pans and make those famous cookies. It's time to pull out those presents you've been buying all year(come on, you know you don't wait until the last minute to purchase all those gifts and pay full price for them all), wrap them quickly and make a beautiful bow to hide the bad wrapping job. It's time to watch as the last pack of chocolate chips fly off the store shelf right as you were reaching to pick them up to bake that batch of famous cookies. Awww yes, the holiday season has begun. At times it feels like everyone is racing to get everything finished. I see people walking through the stores grabbing anything and everything just to mark names off of their shopping list. I see the look of panic and stress in many peoples eyes. But every now and then I see someone who seems to be enjoying the season. Maybe their tree is up, their shopping completed and the cookies baked and tucked away in the freezer? Or maybe they enjoy the season without the commercialism that has become attached to it. Maybe they still make their ornaments and garland for the tree. Maybe they give handmade gifts which they made months ago. Maybe they really do enjoy the season. I think this time of the year is wonderful. I look forward to it each year. I purchase gifts throughout the year to avoid the stress of not having enough money or going into debt or not finding the perfect present. I don't do a lot of baking, sometimes I do no baking. I make a few no bake items for some of my favorite people, per their request. And honestly I truly enjoy this time of the year. I wrap a few gifts a day starting around Thanksgiving time. I do make lists(and check them twice!!). I love buying gifts for others. I think for me giving is more fun than receiving.....ok, it's just as fun as receiving! I know different people celebrate this time of the year in different ways and for different reasons. But however you celebrate and whatever your reasons for celebrating....please enjoy this time of the year!