I loved the story this morning on the Elderstorytelling Blog . Joanne hit the nail on the head.  I have often thought that holidays weren't created for women (with the exception of Valentine's Day).  It's no holiday when you have to prepare huge meals and decorate everything from the toilet seat to the front curb.  It's just work!  That doesn't even touch purchasing gifts and wrapping them in hopes that you might get lucky and the recipient actually likes the gift. I have always enjoyed Christmas but somewhere along the years it just got out of hand.  People are grumpy and I get exhausted.  And......12 months passes really fast now that I'm older.  What seemed like an eternity when I was 9 now feels like a blink of an eye.  

Sometimes I wish we could celebrate Thanksgiving on odd number years and Christmas on even number years.  The two holidays are too close together as it is.  How much turkey can you eat in 8 weeks anyway?