O Christmas Tree

It's that time of year!  Children are getting excited about Santa, places are decked out in holiday decorations, commercials have doubled on tv/radio, and everyone is elbowing fellow shoppers for an extra nickle off that (seemingly) brilliant gift idea you seen at a bargain store.  If you are like me, you dread getting asked what you want for Christmas.  Its not that I'm against gift giving, but my money doesn't go far these days.  And when someone asks me what I want, it really reminds me that I have a growing list of gifts I should be hunting down.  I've always been the kind of person that would rather put time into a gift and give something meaningful.  But with energy as scarce as it has been in 2012, even that thought is making me nervous.  

This Christmas season, I feel more lost than I normally do.  I miss my parents so very much and I'm thankful for the family I have with me... But I also feel like I've lost the 'Holiday Spirit'.  I have no desire to put up a Christmas tree, decorate with lights, or even to put together a group of friends to do phone-caroling.  (Which is like regular caroling except its done over speaker phone because I'm a bit lazy.  lol)  

The closest thing to making me feel even a little Christmassy has been this Readers Digest slideshow about Wacky Ways to Decorate Christmas Trees.  Don't freak, they aren't super-crafty-Martha-Stewart type stuff, these are truly creative!  Some made me laugh, one or two made me stare...  It's worth a look!