Now for Something Completely Different

Last year, for the holiday season, Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings hosted a very laid back challenge called G.I.F.T. I can't remember what that stands for, I am going to have to look it up. Anyways, I am not sure if he is doing it this year (but he should), but believe it or not one of my Christmas Tradition starts all the way back now, in August, so since I am thinking of it, I am going to share.

Many bloggers seem to a big fan of this time of year, and while I think that the fall where I live is stunning, my favourite time of year is actually winter. I have been complaining a lot about a lack of summer, though, so I do get tired of winter eventually. Especially if it starts early (and we loose power for 4 days) or it goes really late (and we have a sucky spring). So, winter is not perfect. And then there was hurrican Juan, that was really bad... Anyways... I do like winter up until January or February.

One of my Christmas Traditions is the arrival of the Sears Christmas Wish Book. Does it come too early? Yes. Did we care when we were kids? No. My sister turned into a bit of a Christmas hater as she got older, but me and my brother still get a big kick out of the holiday. Actually, that was the thing I missed the most about Christmas the last two years, not celebrating it with my brother. I had no one to get up ridiculously early with, so I actually slept in for the first time, well, ever! So, when we were small, the three of us used to love to get the Christmas Wish Book. We would fight over it the day it came in the mail, spend hours pouring over the toy section (which I still look at in my 20's), and making our lists for Santa. These lists would be revised countless times, my parents would get tired of us arguing and go get two more copies, it was the life.

Today I got home to the Wish Book sitting on the counter and I found myself thinking back to all those Christmas holidays spent pouring through the pages. Me and my siblings don't live together anymore, and we probably never will again. We might not get along the best at times, and my sister might think that Christmas is the worst time of year, but I at least will still remember winter mornings fighting over the Wish Book.

Okay, we now return to the previous scheduled season and back to the R.I.P challenge! (G.I.F.T. stands for: Giving Inspiration, Fostering Tradition. Totally not what I had in my head at all, not even close!)