That Just Happened!

Oh the holidays are upon us and the recipes are coming fast and furious.  Recipe for sugar cookies, recipes for Christmas hams, recipes for dealing with the in-laws…

So before I get to the baking I thought I would take some time out and say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays SITStas!  For those of you who do not know SITS is, it is a community of bloggers who love getting comments and discovering new blogs.  You can read more about them here.  You have probably noticed their nifty button on my toolbar. That just lets visiting SITStas and other bloggers that I love comments. And that I am always going to return the visit.  (Fair is fair after all, I cleaned for you).

I am a great lover of lists. I think it helps to keep me organized and on top of things. I am goal-oriented, so it gives me something to work towards. I also think it lets you gals get to know me better in a short amount of time. So please feel free to read my 12 Reasons for Loving Christmas.

12.  National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.  For those of you who haven’t seen this…you need to.  Clark Griswold reminds me of my Dad’s insatiable appetite for lights. He used to replace all of our lights outside the house with green and red and blue.  Try finding your key at night with a red light above your door. Not good.

11. Holidays from Work. Enough said.

10.  Eating all the yummy cookies and chocolate and veggie trays. As I said earlier, the recipes are coming in fast and furious.  Some really interesting ones can be found at Be Different…Act Normal (for awesome decorating ideas as well) Clash and Contradiction, fellow SITSta ILoveMy5Kids (with the amazing Lana), Thrifty Decor Chick, and fellow SITSta Gourmet Meals for Less (with the fabulous Ms. Bibi). I am sure you also have your own delish recipes that make you feel giddy with the Holiday Spirit (and sugar!)

9.  Opening gifts with my family.I am participating this year in the Book Blogger Secret Santa (button to the left, thankyouverymuch).  It was somuch fun to know that my Secret Santee got her present and that she liked it.  You can head over there to read more about 3T (the coolest librarians ever) and read about the Secret Santa exchange.

8.  Having my Girls Christmas. Each year I get together with my 3 good friends for a Girl’s Christmas (no boys allowed!).  It starts off all classy with dinner and such, some gift exchanging and then progresses to a silly game like Balderdash.  That’s usually when we get supremely sillyloud and obnoxious to the hostesses neighbours.  Each year is also awesome because our nearest and dearest friend Camille returns home from Calgary (see Mille? Toronto is home!)

7. Everyone is in a better mood. The snow is slushy, the year has been long and the days are super short. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, everyone appreciates having time off work.  It makes me happy.

6. Sleeping in. Which I can do because of #11.

5.  Traditions. Everyone has traditions during the holidays.  I have really enjoyed reading about how different people celebrate by the fab blog posts I get to read and by following the Virtual Advent Tour.  Head over there and each day you get to read about different books, traditions and recipes from all different bloggers.

4.  Christmas books. I have been participating in the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge.  All of the participants read holiday books and post reviews here.  Head over to find some great holiday reads to put you in the Christmas spirit. 

3.  Hanging Ornaments. That’s a post for another day.  Christmas trees hate me. Really.  

2.  Decorated neighbourhoods. All those lovely houses with all those lovely lights.  Since dark sets in so early, it is nice to have these lights to guide the way home.

1.  Celebrating with Family and Friends. Like You! 

Wishing everyone all the best for the Holiday Season.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays SITStas!