"I fear I've re-dorkulated"

("Simpsons" quote from Professor Fink...you guys don't know what you're missing...)

I guess I am a dork. Specifically, though, I Christmas "geek," or something like it. Every year my house is more and more 'blinged' out with lights and such. I try to keep it tasteful, though, and not fill every nook and cranny with junk. But we do have 2 trees, a lit mantle, and a lot of lights on the exterior of the house. I dunno...ever since I was a kid, I've loved all the lights and stuff. I even love all the sappy old Christmas recordings by Nat King Cole or Bing Crosby.

I try to keep my love for Christmas alive even when surrounded by so many people for whom even just saying the phrase "Merry Christmas" makes them nearly vomit. I don't blame them, though. The over-commercialization of Christmas...the stress of gift-buying/preparing meals/preparing for company...all the work in decorating and undecorating...the diversion from the real meaning of Christmas...that stuff gets old...fast. When Stacey worked at Walgreens or Wal-mart, she was sick of Christmas by Thanksgiving. Constant Muzak playing Christmas songs starting on Halloween can get old, I'm sure. So does the constant presence of cheap-o electronic "singing" snowmen or Christmas trees. In fact, this is the first year in years she's felt like she can just sit back and 'enjoy' Christmas, now that her job doesn't 'assault' her with the over-commercialized, retail-oriented crap. She even watched the Macy's Thanksgiving parade this year with Kailyn.

Where does my geekdom come from? Though I always loved Christmas as a kid (for obvious reasons), my true love for the holiday came when I was a teenager. My home church was so large, that we had to have 3 separate Christmas Eve candlelighting services. Since the 7:00 service was so packed with people, one year I decided to go back to the 11:00 service. It was a very cool, very liturgical service. Low lighting...reflective music (traditional, but good)...a lot of responsive reading. The first time I attended that late service, I felt like it really 'focused' me on the the whole meaning of the holiday. And as I drove back home, I detoured through the neighborhoods, where I looked at all the houses all lit up (it's amazing how many houses are still lit after midnight on Christmas Eve), and everything just felt 'right.' When I got home, I got out of my car, and just stood out in my front yard under a full moon just praying to God... Ever since, Christmas has been a very spiritual time for me, even with all the hooplah of family visits, etc. For me, every light, every tree, every song I hear...they all remind me NOT of the commercialization of Christmas, but the real meaning of it.

I know. Sappy...dripping with sap. If you want to vomit, fine. No, I'm not sitting by the fireplace in a cardigan with a big hardback version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" in my lap. I'm not chugging down spiked eggnog (hmmm...). Stacey's not in the kitchen baking Christmas cookies and humming Christmas carols. I don't have a wreath on the front of the Expedition. I don't have Christmas stockings for our dogs. I don't own a Santa suit. I don't go caroling. I don't know what a yule log is. My favorite Christmas movie is "Christmas Vacation," not "It's a Wonderful Life." I wouldn't wear Christmas neckties, if I wore ties. If Dave were to buy more Christmas yard bling, I'm wouldn't go buy more lights just to keep up (yeah, I put out a lot of lights, but I'm out on competition...that's gay).

But this is not an attempt to get you to 'love' Christmas like I do, if you don't. Nah, my thoughts here are simply more like that guy in "A Christmas Story" reminiscing about fond memories of being a kid at Christmas, and how those memories still today drive my love for Christ, since he's always been the center of the holiday for me. Even if our politically 'correct' (-shudder-) world has tried all it can to remove any reference to Christ from Christmas, it doesn't work for me. It all makes me think about Him...