phatDonna

It’s hard to believe that one week ago today was Christmas Eve, and I was with my family in the midst of a ton of preparations and merry-making. It was a great holiday, one of the best in a long time. I was kind of sad to see it go, which is a big switch from last year when I only went through the motions for Bridget’s sake and couldn’t wait until I could throw all the decorations away.

2010 has been a great year overall. I started it neck-deep in a pit of despair. I’m ending it on solid ground, although I do sometimes still dip my feet in the pool of sadness. OK, enough with the banal metaphors.

I’m not normally the type to make resolutions because I always break them. But I do have a list of things I’d like to accomplish this year.

Eat less, move more
Cook more meals at home
Count my blessings more
Get more massages

I’ll be staying in tonight with Bridget. I have to work so I can’t drink, but I am going to ring in the new year with some favorite junk foods (ahem, don’t resolutions start tomorrow anyway?) and some good movies.

To all of you, my friends, I wish a safe night tonight no matter what you do and a happy and bountiful new year.

And if you are out tonight and are drinking, please remember that AAA will give you a free ride and tow your car home for free. You don’t even have to be a AAA member to use the service. Just call 1-800-AAA-HELP. Go ahead and program that in your cell phone before you leave for the night, will ya?

Oh, hi! I remember you! It’s been a while, huh? Well, I’ve been busy. I went to Disney World with Bridget and had a great but exhausting time. But I figured I owed you a post. Or at least I owed it to myself to get out of my head these two Christmas snippets that keep knocking around in my head, making me think, “Yes, I need to blog that!”

First, Bridget will apparently be transformed into the Baby Jesus this Christmas. This is what happens when you start your Christmas shopping in September. I seemed to have forgotten many of the gifts that I bought for her ages ago. So I bought more. Holy crap, there are a lot of presents for that kid. And that does not even take into account the gifts that the family is going to give her. Wow. I think we’ll be doing some donating of toys after Christmas.

Somehow, though I found myself at Target yesterday (for the fourth time in four days) buying a My Little Pony because Bridget told Santa at school that she wants a pink pony for Christmas. I debated what to do because this was the first I had heard of the pink pony. But when you have a kid who is just beginning to get the whole Santa Claus thing, how do you NOT make sure they get the ONLY thing they asked Santa for? Luckily I found a small one, not a whole set, that was only $5 and will go in her stocking.

Now, the next thing I want to vent about is this whole hoopla over wishing people “Merry Christmas” vs “Happy Holidays.” And I just want to say this: CALM THE FUCK DOWN, BOTH OF YOU. People have been saying “Happy Holidays” for ages, even before we as a society ever thought to acknowledge that not everyone is Christian in this country, because – and you might need to sit down for this bit – there are actually TWO holidays that take place in December (not taking into account the non Christian religious holidays). There is Christmas and New Year’s. So it’s just easier to say “Happy Holidays” than to say “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!” Of course now that we are a bit more inclusive and aware that not everyone in this country celebrates Christmas, it’s just easier to to wish someone “Happy Holidays” if you don’t know if they celebrate Christmas. It in no way takes anything away from Christmas or lets the terrorists win.

On the flip side, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, and someone wishes you a Merry Christmas, just think of it as a simple mistake, and be happy that someone took the time to wish you a happy day, even if that day means nothing to you. No one is trying to convert you to Christianity.

Phew. I feel better now.

I know we are all inundated this time of year with requests for giving. It’s the holidays and we all want to help but budgets are not limitless and so we have to choose carefully the charities we donate to. But here’s a way to help that won’t cost you a thing. All you have to do is click.

Hanes is launching a Virtual Sock Drive. From the press release:

Last year, Hanes launched its first virtual sock drive after learning that socks are the No. 1 most-requested item at homeless shelters.  The Sock Drive encourages consumers to get into the holiday giving spirit by visiting the Hanes Facebook® page.  Visitors to the page can watch the progress of the drive via the Hanes sock-o-meter that helps track donations against the overall goal.

All you have to do is click on the link to the Hanes Facebook page and “like” their page, then click on “Help Hanes Donate.” That’s it. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezey. For every click to help donate, Hanes will donate one pair of socks; their goal is to donate 500,000 pairs to the Salvation Army. What could be easier?