Ooooh, the holidays are nearly upon us!

And in a scant 2 hours I will escape this office, not to return until January 2nd... and then only for 2 days!

I will only be in the office for 2 days out of the next 30 or so. Now *that* is something to celebrate!

Speaking of celebrating, I have discovered Yahoo! streaming radio and have been permanently glued to the "Traditional Holiday" station since around 6pm last night. Rockin' around the Christmas tree, have a happy holiday... I'm sorry, where was I?

Right, the holidays. Merciful universe, I cannot wait to be lounging around my parents' house, my largest concern being whether my next beer will be Stella or Amstel, and really, how many shots are "too many"? I have been a walking ball of stress for the last several months, which I knew would be the case, but I am really looking forward to those few blissful stress-free days.

But alas, there is no rest for the wicked just yet. The last 2 nights have been spent feverishly sewing christmas gifts, and tonight will be spent cleaning my apartment, which looks like it's been recently inhabited by frat boys. Frat boys who like arts and crafts, anyway. Then tomorrow morning I have to wake up early and do laundry before packing and catching a 3:00 train out of Penn Station. Phew!

Despite my stress level, however, the holiday spirit is still going in full force. I cannot wait to get home and see my parents' house, which (as usual) will look like Santa's workshop walked in the front door and exploded. Exploded tastefully mind you, but exploded none the less.

There is only one slight damper on my seasonal cheer: I wish I wasn't so poor this holiday--or most holidays. I love giving gifts, and the fact that I was only able to get one gift for each of my parents kinda makes me sad. One of my best Christmases in recent memory was a few years ago when I was waitressing and hit a great run of luck right before Christmas. I had a ton of money and was able to buy lots of great stuff for my parents--and friends as well! Being able to give so many gifts honestly made me much happier than all the things I received.

Not that I don't like getting presents, who doesn't? But really, the giving thing, just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So I guess this year what I'm really giving is my time, because lordy does sewing take forever!

In some respects I think time is worth more than money... probably why I so often wish I had more of both!

However, in the spirit of giving, I put it to you dear readers: What gift are you most excited about giving this year?