Update

The holidays have now begun in earnest. I took Friday off work, then flew back home to Calgary on Saturday. I've since purchased the remainder of my presents, thereby completing my Christmas shopping. Otherwise, the past few days have been a blur of family, baking and multiple mini-Christmii. It's been fun. I have a niece and a nephew, and it's been fun to be "Uncle Wy" again.

Today should be fairly calm. Fingers crossed, my grandmother will be flying into town this afternoon, but we'll likely have a low-key evening in preparation for what promises to be a busy day tomorrow. Following that, I'll be meeting up with some long-time friends over pints (or the several mini-pints that make up a wheel o' beer), and generally trying to sleep in as much as possible.

Ah, the sleeping. That's a bit hit-and-miss at the moment, being that I seem to be stuck on Eastern time. I was up at about 5:15 am yesterday, and 5:45 am this morning. Given that I've been going to bed at around 9:00 pm, that's not too bad - at least eight hours sleep - but what I probably need to do is catch a nap so that I can start going to bed at a more reasonable hour.

Beyond family and friends, the part of the holidays I like the best is being able to have a bit of time alone with my thoughts to reflect over all that's happened this past year. I typically keep a pretty busy schedule, so it's nice to have time that I can dedicate to this sort of thing, and this year I'm off for a 12 day stretch, which is the single largest break I've taken since I started to work full time. Long walks, journalling and reading books may not be very exciting, but at least I'm excited.

As far as the actual Christmas holiday is concerned, I'm thinking that next year I may declare a unilateral cease-fire on the whole "gifts" part of the holiday. Oh, I still intend to do nice things for people, but these nice things will be an reflection of the depths of my consideration rather than my wallet. Oh, except for nieces and nephews, of course - I'll still spoil them rotten.

I found shopping to be stressful this year. Moreover, most of the people I saw while shopping also seemed really stressed. I think the main reason for that is that most of the people I know are entering a phase in their lives when, if they want something badly enough, they'll just go out and get it for themselves. I know that I certainly have far more stuff than I actually need, or can find appropriate use for. I don't mean to sound ungrateful for the gifts I'll receive this holiday, but I really am equally impressed by the thought that goes into an inexpensive present as that which goes into an expensive one.

We'll see if this sentiment lasts until next year, but I hope that it does.