Bring On the Holidays

You may have noticed over the past several weeks that I've really been getting into the Halloween spirit here on the blog. Since the beginning of September, my weekly book recommendations have centered around the spooky, the creepy and the suspenseful, and for the month of October all of my Five Sentence Fiction Friday posts have a darker twist to them. Why? Well, last year I swore off the holidays. I was so sick of all the holiday mayhem (Christmas in particular, but the rest as well) that I decided to take a year off. I did the minimal requirements for each and it felt so good to just give it a rest for a year. I really needed the break.

Now, I'm feeling refreshed. I'm ready to take on the holidays again, but in my own style. I'm embracing the parts I love while leaving out the activities I just don't feel up to. Take Halloween for example. I probably won't get dressed up or decorate the yard this year. But I'm reading a giant stack of spooktacular books to get in the spirit, and having weekly get togethers with friends to watch classic horror. I'm going to carve a pumpkin and roast pumpkin seeds and hand out candy to trick or treaters. And so far, I'm having a blast.

So, if you're starting to get a little sick of all the Halloween spirit hanging around here, I apologize. And don't worry, I'll keep most of my Christmas spirit off the blog. That's one of those holidays that can be a little too... everywhere. I plan on enjoying Christmas this year, but I won't be cramming it down anyone's throat. In the mean time, Happy Halloween!

Holy Crap, It's October!

Can you believe we're in October already? OCTOBER! I was just starting to get used to the idea of September and here we are, already in October. Which is not a good thing. And I'm not just talking about winter coming. Sure, I love the idea of October, with pumpkins, Halloween, and if you live in Canada - Thanksgiving. It's great! But this year, it's a little different. For one, I'm ignoring Halloween. Yes, even though I usually rate it as my number two favourite holiday, I'm just not in the mood. I'm skipping the pumpkins and candy this year in favour of peace and quiet. The thought of lugging up the giant bins full of decorations, only to have to undecorate everything and lug it all back down to the basement makes me cringe. The same goes for Christmas. I'm just not doing it this year.

That doesn't mean I'm off the hook for Christmas though, which brings me to my next point, the other reason it's bad news for it to already be October. This year, my family is doing a homemade Christmas. All the gifts we're giving each other must be homemade. Which is fabulous, we get to be creative, more thoughtful about what would really make our loved ones smile, and save money while we're at it. Except, it takes a lot more time. And effort. And it's officially October and I haven't really started yet. Which gives me a stress headache. And indigestion. It's not to say that I don't have plans. I do. But those plans require a lot of time. And effort. And it's already October.

So, while the rest of you are planning for Halloween, I will be planning for Christmas. It's time I got my butt in gear, because next thing you know, it's going to be November, and then it will be Christmas. Oh Lord, winter really is coming this year, isn't it? I would have much preferred to escape to somewhere hot this year and pretended that Christmas doesn't exist (bah humbug!), but at least if I get on it now, I won't have a lot of stress. And that's the best present I think I could give myself. (Although next year I think I'll upgrade to a plane ticket and a nice hotel somewhere warm)