Not Home for the Holidays

This will be the first year that I will be unable to spend Christmas with my family. It's depressing. I am staying in Colorado with Philip. He can't get any time off work for Christmas, and my family is over a thousand miles away from here. So, getting home for the holidays is not an option.

I really do want to spend Christmas with Philip. I love him and he is my world. However, I've been homesick recently and not being able to go home for Christmas is really getting to me. I haven't seen my parents and sister since July. I haven't seen the rest of my family since May.

Before we moved here, I was about 700 miles away from my family. I still managed to see them every month or two. To be fair, during that time, I was unemployed. However, when I was working, I still managed to see them every 2 to 4 months.

And even when I wasn't seeing my family as often, I was surrounded by friends and roommates. I've had difficulty finding friends in Keenesburg. All of our neighbors have families. And, I work in downtown Denver with 3 other people; my boss and 2 maintenance guys, one who does not speak English. I really like the guys I work with and my neighbors but they aren't really best friend material.

I love the holidays. I love baking, shopping, giving, receiving. I love the decorations and the love. I love the happiness that the holidays bring. I'm just having more trouble than normal getting into the holiday spirit this year. When I'm buying presents this year, I am having them shipped directly to my family. I won't get to see their faces when they open presents. I won't get to have dinner with all of them.

I am incredibly fortunate to have a wonderful man to spend my holidays and every day with. He is loving, supportive, smart, funny, and just perfect. I love him so much. I just wish I could have the best of both worlds and spend the holidays with BOTH my family and Philip. Hopefully next year we will be able to take some time off work to see our families for the holidays.

The "War" on Christmas

This is absolutely ridiculous. People who believe in this crap just piss me off.

I celebrate Christmas. I don't get upset when people tell me "Merry Christmas," "Happy Holidays," or "Season's Greetings." To me, it makes no difference. I celebrate Christmas, so I don't get upset when people tell me "Merry Christmas." It's a seasonal holiday so I don't get upset when people tell me the other two either.

What really pisses me off is when people who celebrate Christmas get upset by other people telling them "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings."

Christians are not the only people in the world. There are lots of other holidays in December, so why should Christians get to be the only ones recognized??? That makes no sense. So, I get pissed off at the Christian conservatives who tell me that I am attacking Christianity and Christmas by saying "Happy Holidays." They say that I am persecuting them. That is F*@#ing ridiculous. Just because I am accepting that other people may not believe as I do (and I don't even believe as most Christians do... I just celebrate the holiday as a day of thanks to what Jesus represents...), does not mean that I am being hateful of Christians. It means that I am accepting of those of us who do not celebrate Christmas.

I mean, come on. Christianity may have a hold on the U.S., but Hanukah is at least widely recognized as a December holiday. So, who is actually being persecuted here?? The Christians?? I think not. I think that the fact that the conservative Christians are making such a big deal out of this proves that they are persecuting everyone who is not Christian. If everyone were completely ignorant of other holidays taking place during December (or if there were no other holidays), it would make sense that people would be offended by "Happy Holidays," because there would only be ONE holiday in the month. However, there are lots of holidays and people have to at least know about one or two of them. So, it's inexcusable. And it pisses me off.

It makes me want to say "Happy Holidays" every time. I usually wait for someone to greet me. And if they use "Merry Christmas" then I usually say "Merry Christmas." After all, if they just assumed that I celebrate Christmas, then I don't feel bad assuming the same about them. If people raise a stink over it though, I want to stomp on their faces while screaming "Happy Holidays." Or maybe singing the Hanukah song. That would be nice. :)

Anyway, for those of you who still aren't convinced that Christmas isn't the only holiday this month, I've put together a list. Here it is:

Advent: four weeks prior to Christmas.

Saint Nicholas' Day: December 6
Bodhi Day: December 8

Eid ul-Adha: Starting on the 10th of Dhul Hijja (December 8, 2008)

Winter Solstice: December 21-December 22

Hanukkah: Starting on 25 Kislev (December 22, 2008)

HumanLight: (December 23)

Christmas Eve: December 24
Christmas: December 25

Signature of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan) : December 25

Boxing Day: (December 26)

Saint Stephen's Day: December 26

Kwanzaa: (December 26 - January 1)
Saint John the Evangelist's Day: December 27
Holy Innocents' Day: December 28
Saint Sylvester's Day: December 31
Watch Night: December 31

New Year's Eve: (December 31)

Hogmanay: (Night of December 31 - Before dawn of January 1)

New Year's Day: (January 1)

So, there, all of you damn conservative Christians! You don't have a monopoly on the holidays. So hold your tongues. Or I'll give you a slap in the face with words. lol :)