holiday spirit

i'm the type of person that doesn't like to acknowledge christmas until it's nearly upon us.  it seems like every year the push for the holidays and to buy, buy, buy starts earlier and earlier -- this year, stores were adorned with red-and-green decor before halloween had even come and gone!  meanwhile, i generally hold off until black friday to start my holiday shopping; i ban christmas music until december.

my husband, on the other hand, will belt out christmas songs in july.  he looks forward to it all year -- and i mean all year.  the weeks leading up to the big day are filled with boundless excitement, and when i look into his eyes i can almost seem them sparkling.  the child inside him clearly shines through.

so you can imagine what it's like in our house.  when he starts singing, i'll cover my ears.  when he's bouncing off the walls, i'm quietly checking off my lists.  like i've mentioned before, my husband and i react to situations very differently.  he prefers the build up to christmas, running full-speed, each day closer and closer to december 25th.  i'd rather savor every day as it comes, not pressing on or rushing towards a specific date.  time passes quickly enough, so why let the month of december turn into a blur?  the holidays are a chance for me to slow it down.

but things started changing last night.  right before i fell asleep, i heard sirens from a fire truck, turned to my husband and murmured, "santa should be coming by soon."  he asked the date was and after i told him, he remarked, "it's our 5-year anniversary in the house," to which i exclaimed, "happy house-a-versary!"  it was during our first winter in the house that we discovered the little town tradition of santa visiting the neighborhood atop a fire engine.  i can still see hubbie and B staring out the window together, trying to see what all the commotion was about.

then today, i downloaded a christmas album so i could listen to it at work.  before december.  i even found myself nearly humming along.  and i actually enjoyed seeing the christmas lights and displays in my development, including the outrageous ones with the gigantic blow up santas and snowmen.  and guess what i've been doing tonight?  browsing through old christmas albums.  what in the world has gotten into me?

it seems i've been bitten by the ol' christmas bug.