Expectations

I'm just now starting to wonder if the 'holiday' stress is about expectations and not traditions.
Once again (as with every year) Christopher and I don't see eye to eye about this thing we call Christmas and I am the bad guy with a tight grip on my debit card and a panicked look at my balances and their imbalance.
I hope that I get better at this without giving up what's important to me.

I knew I had been neglectful of the blog but I didn't realize just how much so until I saw the date of my last post. The thing is I can't think of what to tell those of you who choose to read it. I have lots I can bitch and complain about but I don't think I feel like doing that right now.
Christmas is always a difficult time for me. There are some conflicting messages out there and it upsets me when I think about it too much. Mostly I hate the lies I tell my kids about "santa' and I am pretty sure I have talked about that here before too. I also hate all the buying when I have other things that require my money. Having said that it's a trap and we are already this far into it there is no going back, the best I can do is hope that the kids figure it out on their own and we can adjust our traditions accordingly in the next few years.
I am grateful for many things lately and when I keep them in mind the rest doesn't seem as daunting.

• I was only laid off work for 3 weeks before being called back
• I have a job
• Despite this nagging cough I am healthy
• Regardless of how much snot comes out of their noses my kids are healthy too
• Gas in my town is the 2nd cheapest in Canada (almost always, between 1.05and 95cents/litre)
• I can spend my Sunday morning drinking hot coffee and reading blogs, facebook and post secret in my Pjs and feel the furnace on

Life is good when you only see these things.