Getting Back Into the Spirit of the Season

I would like to write a little piece on Christmas. I recently read a post on Facebook that reads as follows: Can't stand that Christmas has become so commercialized!! We are forced to spend crazy amounts of money on our kids because if you don't they would wonder why everyone else got stuff! The prices of things has just gotten outrageous!! My heart goes out to the families who will have nothing for Christmas! I know a few myself! I will not be bragging on here how much I am spending and how many gifts my kids are getting out of respect for those who can't even buy even one!! Lets remember what Christmas is really about!!! Well, I am going to spend the next little bit refuting that statement and talking about how I am going to have a wonderful Christmas this year.

To address the statements posted on Facebook:

I agree that Christmas is commercialized; just like every other holiday that we have nowadays. If ever there was an opportunity for companies to make money, it has to be Christmas. The traditions of the holiday dictate that one gives of oneself. This does not mean that you have to empty your savings to buy gifts for others. It is just convenient with all of the “things” that are on everyone’s lists to go to the store and buy things. The statement about the kids wondering “why everyone else got stuff” is false. That is, unless you have spoiled brats. It was a rare treat for us to get stuff that cost a “crazy amount of money” when I was growing up. We (my sisters and I) got a select few things that were at the very top of our list (if they were within the budget) and gifts that a lot of thought went into. If we didn't get what we wanted one year, there was always the next year or the next…

Saying that your “heart goes out to the families who will have nothing for Christmas” is a nice sentiment, but it essentially means nothing when it is not backed by any sort of action. Also, saying that you won’t be bragging about how much you spend because of the families that are lacking is either a dig at someone that has done that very thing, or in a way it’s kind of rubbing it in. It’s like saying that you are going to spend so much money that I would get jealous. Hmm…

I would have to agree with  the final statement though. Let’s remember what Christmas is really about. It is about getting together with friends and family and celebrating another year lived, lighting the dark and dreary winter with love and friendship, knowing that you are loved and capable of loving return by taking the time to exchange well-selected or made gifts, and letting go of the negative to embrace the positive in order to combat the depression that winter tends to bring.

I love baking with my kids. Christmas cookies are the best, and it is the perfect excuse to take in carbs (in moderation of course). We have already made 2 batches of cookies and 4 loaves of pumpkin bread; one of which we gave to our new neighbors that moved in behind us last week. Hopefully we will be able to make fudge and divinity this next week like I used to with my mom and sisters when we were younger. That was one thing I always looked forward to when the holidays rolled around.

To bring the holiday cheer into the house and come together as a family, we have watched at least one holiday movie as a family every weekend. Usually my son and I watch the Christmas episode of Diego while Dad is at work and Sister is at school as well. I am totally looking forward to driving around to look at Christmas lights with a mug of cocoa followed by “A Christmas Story” with my family on Christmas Eve. That is so important to our family that we even made it a point to do it last year while we were living with my husband’s parents because we were out of a house for winter break. Hopefully it will continue to be a tradition when the kids get older too, because I know that whether they join us or not, my husband and I will repeat it every year until we just can’t anymore.

For gifts this year I have gotten kind of creative. The kids both have trunks that have been given to them in past years, but they don’t really have anything to put in them. Since they like to play dress up, I rummaged through the clearance racks at Walmart and Joann's after Halloween to get dress up stuff for them. I think I managed to get about $60 worth of clothes and accessories for $25, and I hope to make a few more items using my brain, quilting chubs, and my sewing machine. We have also recently racked up a lot of points with Best Buy and are considering using those and turning in a spare TV or two for credit toward a newer TV for them to share. We might save that one for next year though; not sure yet. Other than that, their gifts consist of items that I was planning on buying them already that I am just going to wrap in pretty paper instead of just handing it to them. No I-pods or leap pads, no motorized scooters or battery operated cars, nothing that is going to break the budget here because life goes on after Christmas and we need our money to pay the bills.

I love the holiday season. It is my favorite part of the year following autumn. With all the stresses that we put on ourselves; such as competing with neighbors to see who can decorate better, trying to watch our calorie intake, which gifts to give to who (and who to give gifts to while we’re at it), mailing deadlines, lines everywhere, and on and on and on; it is easy to forget what this season is about. So I urge you to take time this holiday season to curl up on the couch with your spouse/significant other, parents, siblings, or children with a mug of cocoa and a Christmas movie, and just let go of everything else for a while. It will get done, and if it doesn't, it doesn't matter.

Happy Holidays!

Less Than Wonderful Rant

     I am going to go ahead and post a rant-blog today. I have started many in the past few months because I have been getting so frustrated about things in this day and age, but I couldn't bring myself to actually put them out there. This time, my kids are sleeping and my "push over" button is broken.So here you go:
     This is why I don't like to engage with certain "religious" people. There is no way to communicate anything with them that the conversation doesn't turn into a big fight! If it's not bad enough when you do it in person or on the phone, they also want to go at it on Facebook for the whole world to see! Here is a little of what I am talking about:

MY BROTHER'S POST: pork chops are a lot harder to make than it seems...
MY REPLY: No. You're just doing it wrong. ;-)
HIM: haha well that would do it too...:P;
ME: Why didn't you just go to Chick fil a? I heard that this was "the day to go"... Bwahaha!
HIM: Lol I don't really care about that restaurant or what's going on with it.
There was another comment regarding the pork chops and then this post by my sister in law: That's fine that you don't believe or care about that issue Sondra but don't make fun of @ Laura, Breson, or me for standing up for what we believe in. And all of you should care about what's going on because you are/were in the Navy. If you don't care, then what the heck are you fighting for????

     Seriously?! Where did that come from? If you know what is going on in the news about the whole "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" thing, then you know what my comment was referring to, but I didn't put it on there as a dig on anyone. I was just stating that it was something that was made into a much bigger deal than it should have been, in my opinion, and that was all. The comment that was made by someone that was not even involved in the conversation that I was "making fun" of people was just ridiculous, in my opinion.
     After seeing this post that I viewed as an attack, because I feel that it was not instigated on my part as I did not "make fun" of anyone as the allegations state, I went to her page to see what other things she had most likely posted as a result of the media swell around Chick-Fil-A. You know as well as I do that people that post comments like that do not limit it to responses on other people's posts, it's part of the whole of who they are. There is one thread that stuck out to me on her page. There are 31 comments on it, and quite a few of them are long winded, so I will give the pertinent ones and sum up the rest of it. Here it is:

HER POST: I just got deleted from someone's Facebook because I support the same Biblical principals that Chik Fil a does, freedom of speech, and free enterprise. John 15:18 " the world hates you because they first hated me."
A bunch of people were going back and forth about how it was crappy that someone would do that, and not to let it bother her, and some of them were even attacking other people on comments that they made if the comments were not ones of sympathy of this "horrible thing" that happened to her. Then my comment:
MY REPLY: I just have one question which is in response to your uncalled-for outburst on a comment I made to my brother and your vague, topsy turvy retorts to comments in this thread: Is there anything that doesn't offend you in some way? It seems like there is nothing that doesn't ruffle your feathers, and furthermore, everyone doesn't believe the same as you, and while you are on your freedom of speech kick here's one for you: that's the right the rest of us are exercising too. Some people are just less belligerent with it. With that said, please stop pointing out that I do not hold Christoan beliefs like you do. It says plainly in my bio that I'm not Christian. It is offensive to me. Thank you.
HER REPLY (2 days later): First of all Sondra, before you were even a twinkle in Chris's eye, Breson and I were married. So if anything, Aaron is my brother, but still we are all Jenkins, so we are all family and no one is more family than anyone else. Second, I am 
not vague in the least amount in this thread it is pretty clear where I stand on my beliefs. I am not sensitive to everything, despite what you may think. My response to you was not about you not being a Christian, it was about what you, Aaron, Chris, and everyone else in the military fights for, our precious freedom which was being attacked in this whole Chick-Fil-A thing. So who is the sensitive one?? And of course everyone doesn't believe the same thing as me. I am not naive to the fact that there are other religions/ beliefs out there.FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY THIS REPLY: Your snide remarks and blatant digs are offensive to me, by the way.

     It continues for a few remarks more about props to her for standing up for what she believes in, some Jesus talk, someone quoted a scripture, and then it is done for the time being. It just drives me absolutely crazy! She even had a couple of friends on there that don't necessarily agree with Christian beliefs and she, I guess, tried to say that she doesn't go all the way to one side in that the LGBTQ community has no rights or anything, while in the next breath stating that she upholds the beliefs that are in the Holy Bible regarding that way of life.
     Here is another quote that bothers me: "If I can't equally stand up for my beliefs without judgement or intolerance, then we were never friends in the first place." To me it doesn't seem as though the other person is getting the treatment that she is demanding with this statement. I don't even think this person that is being referred to in that quote knows that this whole conversation is taking place and was sparked by them un-friend-ing her. There is a whole lot of intolerance coming from this thread. This quote I find kind of funny "If you want to remove me because I stand up for my beliefs, then fine. But ask yourself this, Who is really the intolerant biggot? Me or you?" Is this supposed to make her feel that she is not an "intolerant biggot" (I would say that she is an ignorant bigot as she does not even know how to spell the stupid word... Funny too how the word, according to Webster, is of French origin and comes from hypocrite. Food for thought.) because she is inviting someone to un-friend her instead of the other way around...
     Anyways, I'm net even sure if this rant makes any sense or if it sounds like a big whiny, cry-baby blog made up of a bunch of bits and pieces of things... I just want to say that though I have had some people that really just do not like me over the years, I have never had someone that projects their emotions toward me as being mine, when there was no indication of it coming from me (unless my doppelganger has been walking about without my knowledge) as I have in the almost 8 years that I have known her, and I am putting my foot down and will not associate with someone that tries to belittle me every time I open my mouth.

     If you have gotten this far, or scrolled to the bottom from the git-go, here is the link to the whole thread so you can fill in the gaps of what was being said: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.jenkins03/posts/4278420437721

The Langkawi Sky Bridge

       I have decided to add a new section to my blog. I am going to start a bucket list on here. Not just a list of things I want to do before I die, but actual entries with some detail.

     To kick things off, I want to walk this bridge. This is the Langkawi Sky Bridge that runs around the peak of Gungung Mat Chinchang on the Pulau Langkawi in Malaysia is located at the “end” of the Cable Car ride and is one of the island’s highlights. According to Wikipedia, the bridge is a 410 foot long pedestrian cable-style bridge that is suspended 2300 feet above sea level. The journey to the top starts out at the Oriental Village in the upper northwest of Langkawi Island, near Pantai Kok. According to a travel website for Langkawi, a sweater is a must as the chilly wind flows through the ventilation slits in the top of the cable car on the way up.

     Here is an excerpt from the Langkawi Gazette about the Bridge:

Shirley, 20 August 2009 / TripAdvisor

First prize on TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor, the world's most popular and largest travel community announced the top five most jaw-dropping and top five scariest bridges in the world yesterday. Among the most intimidating and historically significant bridges around the globe, Langkawi Sky Bridge surprisingly took the number one place in the top five world's scariest bridges.

Visitors are able to set foot on Langkawi Sky Bridge by taking a cable car ride at Oriental Village. Completed in October 2004, this beautifully curved Langkawi Sky Bridge is one of the world's highest single supported bridges suspending in between Mount Mat Chinchang. It sits more than 2,200 feet above sea level, stretches about 400 feet, 1.8 m-wide and completed with two 3.6 m-wide triangular platforms for viewing and resting. Located at the peak of Langkawi Island's Mount Mat Chinchang, this half-moon-shaped pedestrian cable-stayed bridge offers visitors a magnificent 360 degree view of the Andaman Sea and the islands in the vicinity. Unlike straight bridges, the curve provides different perspectives over the land and sea.

So what do you think? I think it sounds pretty cool.