"It's so not Xmas anymore..."

That should be a sad country song, I believe I was thinking of a Garth Brooks song. Maybe Jenzy can help me out with that? (It would be appreciated)

Christmas is going to be different this year because I have no idea who I am seeing. I have 4 different events to go to: 2 on Christmas Eve and 2 on Christmas Day. I made my plans billions of years ago, but now everyone is making different plans also. I think my dad is flying Kellie in, which totally bypasses Xmas eve with my mom...but hey I could be wrong. I have tried to contact my sister's, but no one calls me back. Jennifer? Who knows...she was in SLO and now I dont know. My mom said she might be here tonight and I might be driving her up to Modesto tomorrow. Then, my cousins aren't arriving to Modesto on Christmas day until 2, which is the latest time I can leave Modesto to be on time to Dos Palos. I realize that everyone is older now and has jobs, making it harder to get together...but it still is unfortunate.

Oh the madness of Christmas. AM I the ONLY one that hates Christmas? It is so stressful, what with buying gifts because its the thing to do. You oftentimes get gifts that you don't really want or need and give gifts that someone else doesn't really want or need. It is just that you have to think of something to ask for otherwise people cannot get you gifts and Christmas will explode, turning into a vortex that sucks you up.

Then, you have to meet with family members that you only see once a year. You have to come up with conversations and answer the same questions over and over. Plus, since you are family, they can say whatever they want in response without having to worry about sounding rude or prying.

Oh and the decorations I might add are annoying...I am so glad that I don't have a house right now where I have to waste a whole day putting up lights in an effort to flaunt and force my religion on other people. We don't even put up ornaments anymore because none of us around (I didn't mind that, that was fun).

Back to the gifts: at least you get something, but why should we all waste the time buying gifts just because of some tradition that has been taken over by the retail industry and enhanced to the point where a lot of people have to spend all year paying off credit card bills accumulated during the Christmas Season.