Over the years, joy of the holiday season seems to be fading. Each year it seems harder and harder to get excited about putting up the brightly colored Christmas decorations inside and out. In search of the joy, I joined holiday blog hops, took the elf name of Twinkle Bright to participate in holiday events. Results, only a slight bump in the holiday joy meter. Huh. Shopping, now that’s a real experience these days. Black Friday deals most of November, then the real Black Friday, Cyber Monday, harried shoppers looking for the elusive super bargain. It’s nuts. I shop most of year for just the right gifts, so my shopping is nearly done by the above events. One thing missing from these shopping experiences is the Christmas Cheer. Yes, I know the reason for the season, but it’s lost among the boxes, bows, and lack of goodwill toward anyone. Not to mention, the change in greeting of Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for fear of offending someone. Call me a rebel, but I still sing out Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. My hubby and I dared a visit to a big box retailer on Sunday after Black Friday. We talked with an employee there. His description, including entertaining animated gestures was blood bath, enormous crowd, grabbing, pushing, climbing over others, and shoving to get just the right popular computer watch (he worked in electronics). He buried his head in his hands on the counter Continue Reading →