Christmas is coming...

I LOVE Christmas! I admit it, I am one of those crazy people who counts down to the second that she can decorate her house! And I like having it up as long as possible! I just love it!! And I am glad to be in a place where it is soooo over commercialized this year! Yes, I just said that! Don't get me wrong...I know advertisers are using the holiday to make money, and they play on people's emotions and whatnot. I guess that is not the part I mean. And I certainly don't mean the part of going into debt or taking out a loan to buy gifts! But I LOVE the decorations, the songs, the hype that starts about his time of year! I love the count downs and the pagents and the times of seeing family! And I do love Christmas shopping for my kids...though we defintitely keep it a lot more simple than many people do! And I missed all this stuff last year in Malawi!
It was like I woke up a week before Christmas and say, "Oh yeah. I should get some gifts!" Ok, not quite like that. But I did go shopping the week before and there was no crowds or anything. That meant there was also no sales. No decorations. No Christmas music. There was a brief encounter of it in the "Game" store (a mini Walmart wanna be with hot pink signs!) But when I asked other missionaries how and where they shopped for Christmas, most told me they brought stuff from the States. And since we did not ever send the shipping container that was impossible! We had a great holiday - friends had dinner with us (ham and bean soup, fresh fruit, and chocoalte cake) and we LOVED hanging out on our porch in shorts and our swimsuits! (The kids in their swimsuits - not me!) I didn't miss the snow even one hundredth of a second!
However, this year I get to partake in the after thanksgiving craziness of shopping, the beautiful, twinkling lights and Chrsitmas carols that start in October! I am excited for my good old American Christmas! Now, if I could just get our tree here from Georgia...