clementine | Christmas spirit

Mirrored from Oh Clementine. You can leave any comments there.

As a general rule, I do not like cheese and I don't appreciate the ~sentimental value~ of a lot of things. However, Christmastime brings out the cheesiness in me. Ever since I was little, I've always been full of Christmas spirit¹, this warm, fuzzy feeling that I can't properly describe. You'd think I'd have grown out of it the same year that I was finally able to sleep easily on Christmas Eve, or maybe the year that I became Santa, eating the snacks my younger cousins (ages 4, 6, and 7) left for him. But, no, I still have a lot of Christmas spirit and I still love that cheesy feeling.

I love all the Christmassy ads on TV and on websites. In fact, when looking up an adjective for "cheesy" on

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Mirrored from <a href="http://ohclementine.com/entry/christmas-spirit/" title="Read Original Post">Oh Clementine</a>. You can leave any <a href="http://ohclementine.com/entry/christmas-spirit/#comments" title="read comments">comments</a> there.As a general rule, I do not like cheese and I don't appreciate the ~sentimental value~ of a lot of things. However, Christmastime brings out the cheesiness in me. Ever since I was little, I've always been full of Christmas spirit<a href="#footnote_0_" id="identifier_0_" class="footnote-link footnote-identifier-link" title="and I do know how awful that sounds!">1</a>, this warm, fuzzy feeling that I can't properly describe. You'd think I'd have grown out of it the same year that I was finally able to sleep easily on Christmas Eve, or maybe the year that I became Santa, eating the snacks my younger cousins (ages 4, 6, and 7) left for him. But, no, I still have a lot of Christmas spirit and I still love that cheesy feeling. I love all the Christmassy ads on TV and on websites. In fact, when looking up an adjective for "cheesy" on <a href="http://thesaurus.com title="thesaurus.com">thesaurus.com</a> (clearly I failed to find anything satisfactory), an ad started playing Jingle Bells. Now, I have no idea what the ad was for, but it made me happy nonetheless. I love the enormous Christmas tree that gets put up in the mall. I love watching It's a Wonderful Life with my family, even though the only part I actually like is the pool scene, and everything else is hideously boring and no I could not summarise the plot if my life depended on it. I mean… he tries to kill himself at the end, right? Yep, that's about the extent of my knowledge, despite having been exposed to this movie since I was, oh, six years old. I love the food, of course. My French Canadian aunt makes a delicious <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BBche_de_No%C3%ABl" title="wiki article on Bûche de Noël">Bûche de Noël</a> every year, my dad (who is from Kentucky, where I swear ham is one of the four food groups) makes a delectable ham<a href="#footnote_1_" id="identifier_1_" class="footnote-link footnote-identifier-link" title="and I know I don't like meat, but ham is okay">2</a>, and my uncle usually makes some kind of amazing breakfast burrito and a few batches of cookies and, oh, did I mention the huge platter of sushi that <del>I consume by myself</del> we order for the party? Yeah, so the food is pretty good. As cheesy as it sounds<a href="#footnote_2_" id="identifier_2_" class="footnote-link footnote-identifier-link" title="and as much as I really really need a new adjective">3</a>, I also love the family time. Spending time with family members who live in another province? Awesome. And, yeah, I do see them in the summer and sometimes during March Break, but it feels more special around Christmastime. It's just so cosy and nice. You know what ruins my Christmas spirit, though? Hearing the same four versions of the same four Christmas songs over and over and over. <a href="http://ohclementine.com/entry/things-i-have-learned-as-a-cashier/" title="related post">As a cashier</a>, I have to stand in the same place for 4-8 hours at a time. This means that I am exposed to <a href="http://ohclementine.com/entry/things-i-have-learned-as-a-cashier/#comment-1619" title="related comment">Galen Hell</a>'s satellite radio station, which at this time of year consists of not more than 8 Christmas songs. So far I have worked 24 hours. 24 hours of the exact same Christmas music on endless repeat? Yeah. It actually makes me sick of Christmas. One of the customers commented on "the lovely Christmas music" the other day while I was checking out her SPECIAL ON SALE CHRISTMAS CANDY<a href="#footnote_3_" id="identifier_3_" class="footnote-link footnote-identifier-link" title="which is the same as normal candy, just special and on sale">4</a>, so I guess this marketing gimmick is working! How about you? Do you hate hearing endless Christmas music in the stores this time of year? Do you have much in the way of Christmas spirit? (Or, for the sake of political correctness, holiday spirit?) <ol class="footnotes"><li id="footnote_0_" class="footnote">and I do know how awful that sounds! [<a href="#identifier_0_" class="footnote-link footnote-back-link">↩</a>]</li><li id="footnote_1_" class="footnote">and I know I don't like meat, but ham is okay [<a href="#identifier_1_" class="footnote-link footnote-back-link">↩</a>]</li><li id="footnote_2_" class="footnote">and as much as I really really need a new adjective [<a href="#identifier_2_" class="footnote-link footnote-back-link">↩</a>]</li><li id="footnote_3_" class="footnote">which is the same as normal candy, just special and on sale [<a href="#identifier_3_" class="footnote-link footnote-back-link">↩</a>]</li></ol>