I find the time surrounding Christmas to be terrible. I do not like being inundated with mass marketing, I hate it even more when the fad of the year is blasted in my children's faces every where they turn. I despise Christmas ads the day after Halloween, can't stand the 'my lights are bigger and brighter than your lights' mentality of a lot of people.

I do however love that once a year we can step back from our hectic schedules and get together with the people that are most important to us in a relaxed setting, have some laughs play a few tunes and celebrate family. Mine is wonderful and I don't get enough time to enjoy them in this setting. I do believe that this is what Christmas is about.