X is for Xmas

Keep Christ in Christmas. When I was little and I saw "Xmas," I was completely horrified. Poor poor baby Jesus. Mean people crossed out his name. Turns out that the X stands for the Greek letter Chi, the first letter for Christ. Sooo it is kind of like saying Happy My Big Fat Greek Christmas? Maybe? I love Greece and Greek food, but Jesus wasn't Greek. And do most people who use Xmas instead of Christmas have a reason for it?

Anyways. Christmas is coming so soon. Crazy soon.

We have a little tradition over here, that we did not make up, called an Advent wreath. It has four candles and you light one each week prior to Christmas. When all four candles are lit, it's Jesus' birthday week! Party time.  And do you know what that means? It means we all get presents and stuff. If you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah (Happy 1st day of Hanukkah to all!) chances are you are going to get stuff and/or buy stuff for others.

your average Christmas Clown Fairy and lover of stuff

One of my heros, fly lady, has this derogatory acronym for stuff.
Something
That
Undermines
Family
Fun

She suggests looking at all objects and asking yourself, "Is this blessing my family?"And if it isn't get rid of it. Woah. It helps me purge of a lot of junk I feel like I want to hold onto for some reason or another.

Now I am not anti-stuff. I have tons of it. All over the freaking place. The other night I was putzing around on the computer and for some reason I decided to go on the A&ETV website and ended up clicking here (digital room tours of hoarders.) Next to each item, they have the reason the person says they are keeping it, and while some of them are ridiculous reasons, some I realized, are similar reasons I keep stuff around. It's weird how humans get so attached to stuff. Myself included.

Another interesting movie for your enjoyment is The Story of Stuff. While it is a bit political in some aspects, it really made me think about the crap that I bring into my home.

And so my friends I have a constant "urge to purge."

My dear husband said all he wants for Christmas is for us to get rid of 1/3 of our stuff. That might be a bit extreme (sorry love), but I do think that we are going to try to teach Davy and Gianna to 'give until it hurts,' as Mother Theresa used to say... When I was little, my parents used to have us pick out toys every year, of our own, to give to "poor children." I'm pretty sure we just dropped them off at Goodwill, but I think it taught me a valuable lesson that I am still learning. Stuff is just stuff. Thanks Mom and Dad.

So remember keep Christ in Christmas and keep the crap out of your house.