Here's a disclaimer: I KNOW that Christmas is not all about presents.

Of course its about the birth of Jesus. I know, you know. Its an amazing time of year. And of course its also about all the wonderful time spent with family and friends, and the caring and sharing and, yeah, I'm going to stop because, as I said before.....You already know...

I really do think Christmas is really about all of those things. Really I do. But who can deny the always present eagerness of christmas morning. Is it for the wonderful family time you will spend around the tree? Of course not. Its for the gifts. Despite how we try to assure ourselves that age has made us far too mature to get excited over gifts on Christmas morning, we never really lose that sense of anticepation.

So instead of trying tell myself that I was too old to get excited over Christmas gifts, I decided this year to just enjoy it. A little excitement never hurt anyone, right?. Or maybe it can. You see, allowing yourself to give into the tidalwave of Christmas morning excitement assumes one thing: You wont be let down. Thats probably something we all learned a long time ago. But maybe I missed that lesson along with the arithmetic one ;)

But enough with the commentary on my math abilities. As you might guess, my high expectations for the gifts I was going to recieve werent quite met. No, I dont mean to complain, becuase I really do appreciate all that my family and friends got for me. But...well, you know what I mean. It just wasnt what I had hoped for.

Let me give you a slight idea of what I mean. Upon opening my first gift I found a very nice new wrist watch. Quite a nice gift. However, upon trying it on I found that I could have fit three of my wrists inside the watch band. (apparently my grandma thinks I have wrists the size of the hulk). Next I opened a shirt. Now I actually do like getting clothes, but not when they come from this aunt. This particular aunt lives in China as a missionary and as you might expect, has access to much of what is known in our household as 'random Chinese stuff'. For example, the last two years running I have recieved a XXL black t-shirt which proudly displays a 'Walmart in China' logo. below the logo sits several yellow smiley faces with arms and legs sticking out of their heads. Its rather frightening, I have to admit. Its just one of those shirts that should come with a warning that says "not meant for public exposure". Well when I opened this gift I was expecting something similar. However it wasnt quite so bad. This time I recieved a XXL blue 2008 Bejing Olympics t-shirt. I might actually comsider wearingn this one in front of my family :) The rest of the gifts pretty much followed suit. 2 CD's which I already owned, a tie (also from China), a sweater (this one was actually nice), and a gift card (ahhh, finally something I can really use).

But I suppose Im just focusing on the negative. My Christmas really was wonderful. Yeah, the gifts werent quite what I was expecting, but (like I said before, and like you already know) Christmas is about a lot more than that. And besides, I think I learned a few things from this Christmas too. The first of which being to ask for gift cards in the first place. :P

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone

Its strange...

being back on xanga that is...I've sorta taken a break from xanga for a while to test other online personal connection providers (or whatever in God's name you call them). For so long I scoffed at Myspace. Ha! those assimalating non-confrontational popculture conformists! Thats not me. I wont succum.

But then I thought to myself, whats so bad about Myspace? And for that matter, whats so bad about being an assimilating popculture conformist? Myspace could help me stay connected. Perhaps a man made of sterner stuff would have resisted, but that man isnt me. And, due to the something million Myspace profiles, I dont think I'm alone.

So I gave into popculture and its Myspace fad. Or maybe you could say that I simply ventured into new waters. I'll let you decide. However, this succuming or venturing (whichever it is) was nearly stopped due to my complete lack of technical expertise.

soooo.....um, how DO you set up a myspace? I admit it took some time to figure out. But after some indepth research I discovered that www.Myspace.com was the best place to start  I was quite proud of myself. I didnt have to come grauveling at the feet of my technically superior friends in search of guideance. It was one of those little victories for us non-geeks. I think I should be officiall crowned their king. 

So I admit it took a while. But victory was eventually mine. When I first signed on...I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasnt what I found. Perhaps I had envisioned one of those pages with a million friends and a trendy look to it. What I found instead was no trendy setup and no friends (unless you count Tom as a friend...but I wasnt THAT desperate).

But now Im happy to say that I have some friends and...well I'll get back to you on the trendy set up..But I've posted. I've been posted on. But then I thought, what does that mean? I have 25 Mspace friends. But I already knew I had friends. Did I have to add a publicly viewable number to validate that fact? No I didnt. Personally Id rather 'become' friends then 'add to friends'. But maybe thats just me.

At this point I could easily go on a huge rant about the lack of interpersonal contact these days. About our popculture world that finds it easier to IM or text than to carry on a simple conversation. About all sorts of things...But I wont.

So now for a conclusion. I've been told that every good writer should use them. So here it goes. I guess all that was just to explain why im posting again. Im not opposed to Myspace. I will continue to use it. Maybe someday figure out how I can have a trendy setup. But I think I prefer a blog style where I can at least share my thoughts with the three of you who will actually end up reading this. And thats all she wrote...