“I feel it in my fingers. I feel it in my toes. Christmas is all around me. It’s everywhere I go….”

We rented “Christmas with the Kranks” the other day, and honestly, skipping Christmas is not for me. In fact, it was this movie that spurned my holiday spirit into gear.

While it’s nice to get away from the commercialism of it all, I honestly love, love, love getting caught up in the spirit of the season. I’ve been listening to Christmas music on my way to and from work (so that’s four hours a day right there), and I’ve already sent out a dozen or more Christmas cards. A through C. (with some exceptions as I hunt to complete addresses).

I love it when I start to tear up at the Christmas Shoe song or when those really sweet puppy under the tree in a big red bow commercials come on the TV.

I’ve had my first glass of eggnog and bought my first few presents. I’m also making a list and checking it twice. I have two boxes of hot cocoa in the cupboard and an entire jar of fluff. The Christmas cookie recipes have already been selected.

Tree number two is up and decorated with only one casualty. This really pretty ornament that never got to see a Christmas morning was smashed by a brutish gold ball that I bought the first year we had our tree. Actually, this thought made me really sad at the time that it occurred to me. No Christmas ornament should be robbed of a magical Christmas morning.

The first tree went up half-heartedly over the weekend, and has since been decorated a little more. It still needs stuff since it looks pretty sparce. I’m going to see what I can whip up for it. Possibly a yo-yo garland and some more ornaments? We shall see. I promised Jason I wouldn’t buy any more Christmas ornaments, but I think that I have a few around the house that I haven’t unearthed yet that can help fill the tree space. And half the fun is making them (at least in sj world).

Part of what makes this Christmas that much more special is the fact that we have children in the family for the first time in over a decade (if you figure I was 17 over a decade ago). Little babies E and K gurgle and coo and maybe they don’t understand the concept of Santa, but it’s still a chance for us to spoil them rotten. Last year we had my cousin’s children, and while they are cute and lovely children, there’s something uniquely special about my sisters having babies.

I’m also hoping my cousin Heather comes down from NY to spend some time with us. It’ll be a tough year without my aunt, since we usually see them around this time for a couple of days. Having Heather around is a great reminder for us to cherish our family that much more.

On Friday before Jason gets home, I’m going to wrap up some presents so we have some things under the tree. We’re not going overboard with gifts this year- but the boxes under the tree to me are more symbolic about the hopes that come with Christmas – and trying to figure out what’s to come is the most fun.