Merry Christmas?

It doesn't feel like Christmas.


The tree is up, presents are wrapped, stockings are hung, I've got 17 or so Christmas cards with warm holiday greetings hanging from the wall, and my poor dog is walking around with a festive collar on that I'm sure she would strangle me with if she was able to do so. 
It might even snow here on Saturday! 
But I'm still not in the spirit.


(And while I'm at it, I'm not sad either. I promise I'm not about to whine about how much it sucks to be alone at Christmas for the next few paragraphs.)


I don't know what it is this year. This is the third Christmas Sarge has been gone for since we got together (three here, three gone. We're staying pretty even!), but I've never felt like this before. And to be honest, him being gone didn't suck the Christmas spirit out of me like most people might assume. Working at Shoney's for almost seven years ruined every holiday possible, ha. That place... ugh. A rant for another day (ranch dressing!!! XD).


I'm usually really excited, whether he's here or gone. I think the difference this year, is that he normally is on his way home soon after the holidays. But this year, he left right before. So there's no "as soon as they're over, he's back! Yay!" running through my head. It's more like, "meh. Who cares?" I do think I like this deployment schedule better than the old one, though. He left the first week of January last time, so the holidays were kinda depressing because I knew he'd be leaving soon, and there was a lot of pressure to enjoy them, which just made it worse. This year, I just have to mull through it all and get excited about next year. :)


That's the other thing, little man is really too young to really enjoy any of this, or be that active in what's going on, so I don't even have that to be excited for.
So that whole "watch your kids faces light up" thing doesn't even apply this year. He'll probably enjoy the wrapping paper better than the hundred-plus dollars worth of toys he's getting.  Heh, actually, thinking about it... that might not change for a while. Kids are funny that way. :)


Next year is going to be a blast. I think I'll treat it more like his first Christmas than this year.
Good news is, I only have to be indifferent for a few more days. Then, I can tear the tree down, pack up the decorations, and pretend like it never happened. :)
Ugh... and then I'll play "clean up the glitter" for the next three months or so. I'm sooo buying some new decorations this year. I don't know what possessed me to buy glittery ornaments and a glittery tree skirt ("Ooooh... glitter! Shiny!"), but I'll never do it again. If any of you see me out next week (I'm buying new ones on clearance, because that's the only way you should ever purchase such things!) picking up something with glitter on it... smack it out of my hand. And say this, "glitter herpes." Because as we all know, glitter is like the herpes of the craft world. It NEVER goes away. I'm serious, I was finding glitter from last Christmas this past October. It's INSANE. Clearly.


Anyway, I hope all that are traveling this holiday have safe, stress-free trips, and everyone enjoys the holidays as much as they can per their own personal situation. Merry Christmas, everyone!
<3