So – ya’ll know about or are aware of the stereotype where the kid(s) wake up the parents at ohdarkthirty to start the unwrapping of Christmas gifts? And how every year, the hapless parents warn and cajole the kid(s) to stay in bed a little longer, and let the parents get a little more sleep?

Yeah – not in this house. The Most Beautiful Woman in the World and I are chronically sleep deprived, it seems. Never can get enough sleep. I usually get up around 0430 to get dressed and go to work; that time includes feeding the dogs – a habit they can’t seem to break on the days when I don’t need to be up that early. TMBWitW gets up at 0600 to start her day, to include wrestling our daughter, MEG, out of bed and into school clothes. Seems MEG has picked up a mix of our traits – she loves to read late into the nights (which I did as a child, nowadays I don’t read nearly as much as I used to) and she loves to sleep (like her mommy). Bad mix, by the way.

We usually have activities crammed into our evenings, also – meaning that we don’t get to bed in time to get anywhere near the eight hours of recommended sleep, never mind enough sleep. Yes, this means we (ok, mostly I) am kind of cranky during the day. Again, bad mix.

That brings us to Christmas Morning and that stereotype I mentioned earlier. Here I am, up since about 0630 (the dogs let me sleep in a little bit), the paper has been read, and the rest of the house – is silent. TMBWitW’s alarm has gone off, but I haven’t heard anything else. She wanted to get up and make fresh cookies to hand out at the service this morning. MEG’s room is quiet as a library. Now that they have eaten, the dogs have decided that it’s nap time.

So, to my liberal family and friends – Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2014, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere). Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

Have they left? Good. To my conservative family and friends – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

(the Christmas greeting was gleefully borrowed from my friend, Texas Fred)

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

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