Spreading joy and cheer

Naturally I waited til the last minute to do my xmas shopping...it's the only way to go right?  Crowded parking lots, crowded stores, crying children, messy stores, the dreadful Christmas music re-makes (i.e.Taylor Swifts re-make of "Last Christmas") along with atrocious "holiday" elevator music playing in the store, the germs you are inhaling as people cough/sneeze/hack as they walk by you, but my absolute favorite.....xmas shopping EVIL!  I knew I wasn't going to get around to xmas shopping until the last minute so, I prepared myself...mentally....emotionally...etc.  I was filled with Christmas cheer as I pulled into a parking lot and was cut off twice, brake checked, sneered at while I patiently waited for the multitudes of pedestrians who felt so inclined to take their sweet time jaunting across the parking lot to their horrendously parked cars (no doubt in their minds THEY are the exception to the rule..."I can park like this....even if I take up 2 stalls...it's ok if I do it") all the while singing along with Karen Carpenter, maintaining my composure and holiday cheer.  It was an even more joyous sight once I got INTO the store...oh what fun it is to nearly trip over children/toddlers/car seats in the middle of a walkway/door/isle only to be given crustys once you realize it was YOUR fault to let other people's children run around unattended....the joy doesn't stop there...the season just wouldn't be complete with out hearing mothers so lovingly reprimanding their children as if in the comfort of their own home, Ah!  The resonance is priceless, the level of volume in their voice is undeniably an ice breaker for the strangers around them...the vexation and stratus of comfort it must give will def be the gift that keeps on giving.  And the checkout lines, who could forget the checkout lines, their grandure, their complete delight.  I thoroughly enjoy witnessing temper tantrums thrown by several of the patrons who, once they've reached the cashier realize, they can't get their own way (in one way or another..i.e. the pricing is wrong, the item they've searched for is unavailable...they can't get exactly what they need at that very given moment)...how they want it, when they want it....oh the frenzy they work up, and the words that come out of their mouths most definitely encourage dreams of sugar plum fairies, and candy land wishes.  The hussle and bussle of the season is so affable, and charming.  No wonder we all look forward to this time of year....everyone is at their utter best.  The gift of giving has become something we all anticipate with a hint of electricity in our hearts.  It's obviously NOT a routine we've gotten into...it's something we all do out of the goodness of our hearts, never because we are obligated to purchase a gift for the one person whose name we drew out of a hat (in order to eliminate the idea of gift giving to everyone you love) no, no, it is out of complete adoration for the season, and what it represents.  Lucky for us the word "Christmas" still means something.  It means that we get one more day off of work, we get to pig out and not feel guilty afterwards, we get to throw away pretty paper that we should recycle (go green), we have to/get to see all sides of our extended family, making appointments as to when it's convenient for US to swing by your house just so we can open the presents you got for us.  It's still a day that we remember ourselves and what we got....whether or not we got that flat screen tv we wrote to Santa for 3 times....it's about competing with our neighbors as to...who has the most festive light display, never mind that our utility bill could put us in the poor house we MUST be the talk of the neighborhood.  No wonder Christmas is our favorite time of year.  *big sigh of satisfaction* Oh, Christmas what would we do without you? 
***Disclaimer***
This Christmas has been the most humbling Christmas of my lifetime.  The true meaning is priceless to me.  All sarcasm aside.  A Savior was born.  A Savior to turn to when your year doesn't go as you anticipated or planned.  A Savior who will comfort us when we stand in need.  A protector, a guide, a confidant, a person who hears our prayers. A Savior whom we would all be lost without.  I know this.  Merry Christmas everyone.