For the first time in my life I think I've actually appreciated what Christmas is about.

At a certain point this year, we didn't think our Mum was going to live to see her birthday, let alone this Christmas, but by a miracle she did. And for that I am forever greatful. It's my Mum that makes Christmas what it is.

We still leave food out for Father Christmas (chocolate and bourbon - hah-hah) and the reindeer. And Mum still insists any presents waiting in the morning are from him. She's the one who knows how to make the Christmas meal a real Christmas meal and not just an everyday ordinary one even though it contains the same cheap on-special ingredients. She's the one, who even after 23 years, still gets me excited about Christmas even though we really can't spare the money to buy presents. She's the one that still puts that stupid cheap CD in the machine to play those awful tacky carols just for tradition. And she's still the one to dress the dog in a Father Christmas hat, even though the rest of us think he's old, deaf and smelly. (The dog, that is, not the man. Then again, who knows).

Without Mum, there would be no Christmas.

I have my Mum, my sisters, my girlfriend, my friends, and my health. (Actually, scratch that last one.) And that's all I really need. Of course, I do want Milo and Otis on DVD, but that can wait. I really need new glasses first as it seems my cancer is returning. >_>

I don't even follow the Christian faith. I follow the Ásatrú faith. But I guess I still do most of the typical Christian stuff for Easter and Christmas just to humour my grandparents. Even though history writes Ásatrú and Christians quite the enemy.

And I'm still glad I think of my family as kind of cool. My mum has raised four kids on her own and still has a life, can drink me under the table, and even knows how to plough a farming crop. (We lived on a farm for a few years.) My sisters are... Well, you know siblings. My grandad is 71 this year and he knows more about building computers than I do, and my grandma is still "with it" - she knows all about Pokemon and Ninja Turtles.

This year's Christmas is much better than the 2006 Christmas. Melody had died that November and her present was still left under the tree that year. Unopened. I didn't want to touch it. Memories still, never fading, forever resurfacing - but past. I will never return to that year.

This year Father Christmas brought me the watch I'd always needed. Just one of those cheap $5 oversized Red Dot watches that you can pick up everywhere, but it's exactly what I needed. After four years of always looking at my wrist for the time, I finally have it. Just goes he is always listening... Like God... Or Dumbledore. (I'm convinced they're all the same person anyway.)

I also recieved a full-sized poster of this poster in Victoria Frances' Liberame series. [link] Most people might be familiar with it, it's one of her more famous works that are floating around the net. I also go long needed socks and underwear... but I'm not posting a photo of that. >_>

I was going to wish all my friends a happy Christmas day, but I'm not. Instead, I wish EVERY ONE of their days happy. Or at least survivable (for too much happy gets annoying.) Because every day should be awesome. Awesome like cinnamon.

~ Dave