Can We Ban Christmas?

Well, as of Halloween, it is apparently now Christmas Holiday Shopping time. All of the commercials are starting to have that little holiday theme or the little message thrown in that "This is a great gift for the Holidays!!". Just thinking about spending all that money makes me nauseated.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. I love the music and the beautiful decorations. I love Christmas trees and putting up lights and ornaments. I love seeing my family and eating great food.

It's just that this year, somehow, it seems cumbersome. There's so much expectation involved, and now that I am 30+, I feel like I should be shelling out for the "good" gifts. The way that TV and malls and every store you walk into these days seems to be shoving Christmas down your throat, desperately trying to get tight consumers to spend money despite the recession, is just a bit much this year. In some ways, I wish that we could ban Christmas this year. Well, ok, not BAN it. Maybe just ban expensive gifts and crazy expectations. I would be totally happy with just the decorations, food, and family time.

I don't see that happening though. So, I guess I need to sit down soon and figure out who all I need to buy for and what we can afford to really spend. Hopefully I can come up with some great, very personal ideas that will be meaningful and useful, yet inexpensive and easy to find. Yeah, right.