Christmastime Break

DING dong merrily the bells.... I'm a little disappointed I didn't hear any ding dong merry bells this season, except maybe like one salvation army guy outside of Cub Foods. It seemed Christmas came and went. I didn't even see it coming. All of a sudden I woke up Monday and it was Christmas Eve. Not even kidding. Good thing I thought ahead and bought all my presents the day before Christmas Eve. I am such a planner

But yea, Christmas snuck up and snuck out. I love Christmas, who doesn't? Sometimes, however, I feel like Christmas makes me a worse person when it's supposed to make me a more joyful and thankful person. I mean, each Christmas, my parents and grandma are ridiculously generous. This year I received a digital camera, Planet Earth dvd's, clothes, make up, money, etc... I am so thankful for my parents to being so generous - but I feel like every Christmas Eve as I finish unwrapping my mountain of presents, I always can think of something I didn't get, or look at what my sisters got and always want more. I want more than I wanted in the first place. Why? Maybe it's just me, but in all honesty I think my Christmas greed is a true testament to how we always want more more more more. And instead of thinking about Jesus on Christmas I start thinking about how I really like the Mac lipgloss set my sister got, maybe a bit more than the Lancome one my mom got me.... PATHETIC!

Well, I just scrooged the Christmas spirit - sorry about that. In other Christmas news it was a cozy holiday in the H-Town. My grandmother talked about Lutefisk, and actually ate it. Mmmm...nothing says Scandanavian blood like Lutefisk. We were missing one member of the family this year though - my dog Riley. We picked up Riley as a puppy when I was 12, and he died two weeks ago. R.I.P. Riley Ryebread Callahan. Riley is survived by my younger pup, Olly. Olly is kind of stupid. He's a cutie, but he doesn't fetch like most dogs, and I don't think he can really hear. Instead of barking when he wants something, he just stands there. And one time, he ate a sock that split his intestines and almost killed him and my parents pocketbooks. Don't eat socks dog, jeez.

The true highlight of my Christmas was I finally got the almond in the rice pudding (another screaming Scandnavian sign). Yes, it's been 24 years folks, and I have never got the almond. This is my lucky year. For those of you who don't know, if you find an almond in your rice pudding after Christmas dinner, you have good luck for a year. I'm pretty excited to see what it brings.

This was a really random and word-salad type of Christmas re-cap and I apologize for the madness. No worries, however, my "Colleen's African Journal Entries," series will resume shortly. Hakuna Matata and Feliz Navidads!