Merry Holiday-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named!

Normally I am TOTALLY against anything Christmas before Thanksgiving. Jingle Bells is NOT appropriate for Halloween Day - no Christmas music until AFTER Thanksgiving dinner has been consumed! And I refuse to buy anything that has wreaths or snowflakes on it (including beverages and food!) in September. So keeping that in mind, I can't quite figure out what is going on with me this year. I have found myself (on more than one occasion) humming Christmas songs, mapping out Christmas shopping strategies, and looking up recipes for various holiday baked goods. What has gotten into me? We're still two weeks out from Thanksgiving! Aaah! On principle, I simply can't cave in! I've been putting some thought into it (lest I appear hypocritical), and I think I know why my Christmas sensors are hypersensitive this year: my family's Christmas plans! My parents rented a cabin near Duck Creek in Southern Utah. The whole family is going to be there, and we will stay about 1 week. We are going to cut down our own Christmas tree, make our own decorations, bake Christmas goodies, cross-country ski (me), ski/snowboard (everyone else), and generally have a pretty much idyllic Christmas. I AM SO STOKED!!!! Bring on the festivities and gingerbread men and mistletoe and wreaths and Bing Crosby version of "White Christmas"! However, despite my excitement I can't, on principle, cave into my excitement just yet. So, here's to the way over-commercialized but still fabulous and wonderful holiday that comes right after Thanksgiving!

Wagnerific

So the other day at work I finished listening to the prelude to Wagner's opera "Das Rheingold" (love it!) and then immediately switched over and started listening to "Yeah!" by Usher. It wasn't until later that I realized how strange that was. I actually stopped working for a minute to ponder on the bizarre combination. I think I may be the only person in the history of the world that has ever done that.

Are we there yet?

Unless you live under a rock, you have probably heard that elections are on Tuesday. These are the elections that have been going on since . . . well, it feels like forever. I think candidates started campaigning before I was born. Frankly, I have grown so weary of the elections that I stopped listening to the candidates, waiting for it all to be over so I can have NPR back. So here I am, just a few days before elections, and I just realized that I have not made a choice. I am part of the continuously pandered to 7-10% undecided group. The group that just can't make up their minds, the reason that the campaigning just won't stop. I am surprised McCain and/or Obama haven't showed up at my door yet, asking me if there is a little light filing or yard work they can do in exchange for my vote. So this whole thing might be my fault, folks. Maybe if people like me would just suck it up and make a decision, the candidates would just stop talking. This election feels very important to me - I don't know if it is because people won't stop talking about it and I just want it to end, or if there is some other, greater reason for its importance. I don't know. On the other hand, I can't decide on a candidate. To be honest, I really am not impressed with either choice. I feel like I have to choose which candidate I dislike less than the other. This is not an impressive choice to me. It is disheartening to think that our country went through so much campaigning and deciding, etc. to end up with these two choices. And it will probably happen as I step into the polling booth on Tuesday. How many of us are out there - the ones who ignore it all and then make up their minds as they step into a polling booth the day of elections? I wonder what kind of an effect we have on the outcomes of elections. So, here is to the 7-10% undecided group, last minute decisions, an election system that drags out campaigning for what feels like a decade, and the opportunity to vote, even when the choices make you wish you lived in Canada.