The Christmas Season Is Upon Us!

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

What does Christmas mean for you? For me, I have many memories of Christmas growing up as a kid. The YouTube video captures one of those memories.

Every year, the Sunday before Christmas was called White Gift Sunday. It was a time to support an area Food Pantry by wrapping up canned food, in white paper of course, and placing it under the Christmas Tree at church. Then we would gather in the Sunday School area, all the kids would sing a lot of Christmas Carols. What song did I like to sing every year? Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer! Back then it was always a solo. But, these days the song has been a little tricked out with drums and guitars. The YouTube video has me playing guitar, along with my son Zack on drums, and our middle son Ryan playing the bass.  

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Christmas Is Just One Week Away!

Can you believe it? In just one week, it will be Christmas morning! That’s right, if you have kids, in just one week the house will be scattered with torn wrapping paper, discarded boxes, and the smell of turkey filling the air.

In what is supposed to be a most joyous season, many people find themselves stressed out and over-extended on credit cards. There’s the thought that Christmas will be wonderful because of the many dollars spent. But then January 15th arrives, and the stress of trying to figure out how to pay off the credit card bills comes pouring in.

Of course those are concerns parents and adults have. But what about kids? What’s on the minds of children at this time of year? They line up to see Santa with list in hand, and some brave souls have a few other questions for the Jolly ‘Ol Fellow. What’s on their minds? How do reindeer really fly? Does Rudolph eat all the food left for him? Does Santa really eat all the cookies left out for him?

But, the most often asked question of Santa…

How do you visit all the houses in one night?

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The Dumbest Gifts Money Can Buy

‘Tis the season to be Jolly…fa la la la, la la la laaaaaaa

It’s hard to believe but we’re rapidly wrapping up another year, heading toward Christmas. Of course that’s followed by a brand new year! Yesterday I wrote about Black Friday and the rising cost of The 12 Days of Christmas gift list. What are you looking for under your tree this year? Of course as my father used to always say, “What I want, and what I get, are two different things.” Ahhhh yes, great words of wisdom from my Dad.

How many people re-gift? How many people re-card? Yes, I said re-card. Believe it or not, but some people send the same card back and forth to people, just for the sake of having fun, and saving some money. Growing up as a kid I remember saving the wrapping paper so we could re-use that, but I think this whole re-gifting and re-carding thing is getting a little out of hand.

But, what about the perfect gift for that someone special on your Christmas list. Do you need some help with a few gift suggestions?

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Is Black Friday Dead?

It is no secret economic times are tough. Of course if you listen to the government leaders, various talking head pundits and the so-called financial experts, you’re probably filled with lots of fear. Lets face it, there’s a lot of fear-mongering going on these days. If we believed all the reports from the people who are supposed to be in the know, we’d all have our heads buried in the sand. There was plenty of doom and gloom with early predictions of a weak Black Friday. Some people even said the name should be changed. Obviously those calling for the name change don’t understand the meaning of Black Friday. The term is not one of doom and gloom. It’s not even used to describe the crazy antics of shoppers. No, instead, it’s a term describing the fact that retailers use the Friday after Thanksgiving as a way to determine if their sales will move out of the red and into the black.

But, could it be the know-it-alls are full of hot air?

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New Poll Shows Anxiety Is On The Rise

As Gomer Pyle used to say - “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” - Well okay, so this really isn’t much of a surprise. The economy continues to slide down and Wall Street continues the trend of record downfalls. The government is tossing money around like candy and now they’re talking about giving automakers bailout money. Maybe they should look at the fact that unions have a strangle hold on automakers with workers making sometimes $30 plus an hour! (But alas, that’s a topic for an entirely different blog post.)

As a result of what’s going on in the nation, everyone is worried.

With all that’s going on in the nation today, there’s a couple things I want to look at today;

• Polls Show Anxiety Rising
• ‘Tis The Season To Cut Back on Spending

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