Christmas...

I don't know about you, but this year didn't feel like Christmas very much to me. I think that I am finally becoming desensitized to the season and have spent some time pondering why. I think I have 2 reasons why this year seemed so non festive to me.
One reason is that the season starts soooooooooo early. When Sam's Club (Costco to my West Coast friends) puts their Christmas stuff out just as they are putting away the 4th of July fireworks, that is a little early. I remember when the Christmas season really didn't start until about December 1st. My sister, brother, and I would wait with wild anticipation for Rudolph to show on TV, with Frosty soon to follow. I can't think of any Thanksgiving while growing up that we were already thinking about Christmas. At Thanksgiving, Christmas seemed a long way away. Now it feels like Christmas is just around the corner before we even get to halloween.
Another reason is one that may be exclusive to Iowa. With the caucuses being on Jan. 3rd, it seems like instead of the old Norelco commercial with Santa riding on the head of the electric razor through the snow, we here in Iowa got to know that Barak Obama was going to lead through a colorless election. There were soooooo many politcal adds here that I feel like the season kind of got lost. My in-laws got a taste of what a "blessing" it is to be the firs state to hold a presidential caucus/primary.
I am thankful that in the midst of the craziness, we still were able to have an absolutely wonderful day on Christmas Eve and Christmas. Our world wasn't so busy that we didn't read from our Bible, the story of the seaon; the only story that matters. We went to church and made sure that we observed who deserves to be revered.
I love Christmas and look forward to our next one. I am sure that Rene' will start playing the music around, let's say, July 4:)