Do you feel it? I don't.

CARCABLOG VOL.2

First off, I'll apologize for not having posted a blog the last couple Thursdays.  A couple weeks ago I was out of town for "my weekend" (Thursdays and Fridays), and then LAST week...Well...Last week I was bedridden for a few days with what I'll go ahead and say was probably the worst flu I've ever suffered through.  The doc couldn't confirm if it was the dreaded "you know what," but I think I suffered from every imaginable symptom under the sun, and didn't have the energy to get out of bed.  You figure out what it could've been.

Anyway, I'm here now.  So let the blog begin shall we?

Here we are, December 3rd, Santa's 22 days away.  How 'bout that Christmas spirit huh?  Are you feeling it?  Because I've gotta say, I'm not.

There's people out there who have no problem getting into it.  My mom's one of'em.  She loves Christmas!  She's got a set routine.  Tree goes up no later than December 1st, Christmas music hits the stereo last week of November, dad BETTER have those Christmas lights up by the end of the first week of December, and shopping for the year's NEW Christmas decorations begins WELL before all of that.  Yes, growing up the look of our Christmas tree was always changing.

Christmas was always a big thing for me too.  Even as a teenager, I tried my hardest not to miss Frosty, Rudolph or The Grinch on TV, I actually enjoyed going out to the crowded malls and fighting for parking and gifts.  I've always hated the music though, let's get that straight.  Anyway, that's another story.

These days, for about the last five or six years especially, I just don't feel it anymore.  I can see all the trees, lights, bells, reindeer and mistletoe in the world, but I just don't feel that Christmas warmth anymore.  Over the years, while I still happily celebrate it, and while it's great to hang out with family on the big day, December 25th has become no different to me than July 25th.

What is it?

I hate to be one of "those guys," but is it that Christmas has become too commercialized?  Is it so focused on making money now that it's driven away all my interest in the holiday?  No, I don't think so.  It always has been.  In fact, in today's economy I actually find it kinda sad.  This is the season when companies used to simply pad their pockets.  Now, for some, this season has become a matter of survival.  To keep jobs and companies afloat I'm hoping this Christmas shopping season is a big, successful one.

Is it the lack of snow?  Do I really need to have a white Christmas?  I can answer that with a definitive NO!  If I want snow for snowboarding purposes I'll head up north.  Otherwise, I do too much driving to deal with it here in the city.  Sorry Amber Gero.  I don't think anyone is happier about the snow-free November than me.

Is it the fact that numbers have dwindled in my family?  We've lost some of our "family leaders" over the last few years.  Could that be it?  Yeah, I'm sure that plays a small part in it.  Of course if they were around to hear me say that they'd have a fit.  I can hear my grandmother in her thick Italian accent telling me "Marco, no worry aboud Nonna, Nonna eesa fine!"

Is it the fact that I'm an adult now?  I work, am moving into a new place in the next couple weeks, and have responsibilities to worry about and money to manage?  While that's a distraction, I think it'd be a cop out to say yes to that...I mean, so does everyone else right?

So what is it!?  I don't know really.  I haven't quite been able to place my finger on it.  Maybe some day it'll come back.  But I know that right now, I'm just not feeling it.

I'm not Scrooge by any means.  Where he'd say "bah, humbug," my trademark line for this season has become "meh," coupled with a shoulder shrug.

Now, off to do my Christmas shopping.  I think it's still early enough that I won't have to strap on my hockey gear to do it.