How long has it been?

since I last blogged? Way too long. Somehow the last month has completely gotten away from me. I've had a lot of stuff going on and I've been pretty stressed out, so ye olde blog just fell to the wayside. But, I wanted to stop in today to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Whatever you're celebrating this season, I hope the holidays will be a blessing to you and your family.

That brings me to my official rant-of-the-day portion of this post - the so-called "War on Christmas." I'm a Christian and Christmas is important to me as a religious holiday. But, I recognize that it's not that for a lot of other people and that it's become a broader social event in our country. I therefore don't understand why it's such a big deal if people say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or whatever. As usual, I find Jim Wallis' thoughts on this topic insightful (frankly I just find the guy brilliant all around!):

"Does Jesus' message really depend on our being reminded to have a “Merry Christmas” just before we plunge into shopping malls and engage in orgies of holiday consumerism that run so directly contrary to his message? Are Wal-Mart and Target to be seen as critical places of theological and spiritual reflection?"

Amen. If there is a war on Christmas, to my mind that's where it is - the overwhelming materialism in our society, especially at Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I buy gifts and decorate the house and so forth too, but there has to be a limit and I feel like those limits are moving further and further out. So, I'm doing so charitable giving this year too and I hope you all will too - we're so blessed in this country and I think it's important to share with those who are not so fortunate. Okay, end of Christmas rant. On to happier things . . .

I started my birthday cards for next year last night. They're all designed and I have January's printed out. Last year I started printing out, addressing and signing all of my cards at the beginning of the year, but this year I'm gonna have to wait a little bit to print them all out as I'm running low on ink and funds to buy more - we bought a new truck, so extra spending money is limited right now. I really do recommend this approach though if you're someone who send birthday cards - it was so much easier throughout the year when the cards were all ready to go in the mail when I needed them!

I'm really looking forward to seeing my family next week too - I wish Bob could have come too, but maybe next year it will work out for both of us to go. I haven't seen any of my family since last Christmas as none of them were able to come out and visit us this year, so I'm really anxious to see them in person. I have two little nieces who I've never even met yet, so I'm dying to see them! There will be lots of photos taken, that's for sure!

So, I will see all of you after the new year - my parents have the world's most terrible dial-up internet connection, so I'll be offline for a while (I hope I survive it LOL!). I'm excited for a new year of working and scrapbooking and lots of fun projects to come! Oh, that reminds me, I'm trying to renew the Quirkle Journal swap over at Digital Art Quirks, so be sure to look for it in the forums. We're doing 4x6 artwork and there's some really great themes - I think it's going to be a fun swap - lots of talented ladies on board - I'd love to have lots of people join us! And, if you haven't been to Scrapartist of Digichick lately (how could that possibly be LOL) - be sure to check out all the fabulous stuff in their stores right now - I'm seriously overwhelmed by all the beautiful designs, I hardly know where to start!

P.S. Sorry for the world's most boring blog! I switched over to the new blogger and it screwed my whole layout up - I can't seem to figure out how to get my own header in, etc. Ugh. Maybe it's time for Typepad.