MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I have to admit, this year I haven't been in the Christmas spirit much. I don't know if it's because we are having a tough year at work, because there was a week less time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, or what.

Thanks to God for his blessings and Dave Ramsey for his financial advice, this will be the second straight Christmas that we haven't used credit cards to buy gifts. Both years we budgeted early in the year and saved up for Christmas. It is a real good feeling knowing you are in control of your expenditures and getting out of debt instead of creating more. During today's economy, that is very important.

I digress. Like I said, I haven't really been in the Christmas spirit this year, so on my way to work this morning, I decided to do something about it. I tuned my stereo to the all Christmas music station to hear some holiday music during my drive. That seemed to help quite a bit. There is something to be said about hearing Gene Autry's version of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", or Eartha Kitt singing "Santa Baby".

That got me to thinking about Christmas when I was a boy. I remember getting Captain Action and GI Joe action figures with all the accessories, every Hot Wheels car available at the time, and my first bike! My first bike was a classic banana seat version with chopper style handlebars.









I remember that particular Christmas, Santa (or his elf) must have been drunk when he was assembling the bike, as one of the training wheels was higher than the other. That created a permanent tilt of the bike, which resulted in my only learning how to ride the bike in circles in our driveway. After a couple of weeks I snapped and realized I could go straight if I leaned the other way! I loved that bike, as I later learned to customize it on my own. Soon after came the sissy bar, head rest, tassels, extended front forks, headlight, etc. I was stylin!

Ahhh, memories...

Anyway, the music seemed to help, but my cold hasn't. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. I get out of work early and Mel, Cindy, and I are planning to make a day of getting out in the hubbub, then having an early dinner, opening gifts, then settling in to a glass of wine and A Christmas Story marathon!

Hope you and yours have a safe Merry Christmas!