One year later

How sad is it that it's been almost a year since I've updated this blog? Very, very sad. Of course, a lot can happen in a year...lose your job, become a stay-at-home mom, celebrate a first birthday, move to Florida. I'm using NaBloPoMo to jump-start and restart blogging. Especially now that there are more of you who won't be seeing Squiggles with any regularity.

And so it ends...

NaBloPoMo, that its. Today is the last day of November, and the last day of daily posting. Not that I posted every day. I don't even think I hit the halfway mark. But I did post more than I've ever posted before, and that was my real goal. Can I keep it up? We'll see. I do have a vacation report to post, so there's at least a few more. And then there will be fun Christmas posts, too. I will shoot for daily posts, but I think you'll all have to settle for 3-5 per week.

Sunny Fla!

Well, we made it safely to Florida! The day wasn't without its stressful moments, though. Thankfully, none of them had to do with Squiggles. He was a happy baby all through the process of getting to the airport, checking our luggage, going through security, running to the gate, flying, and the reverse once we landed. I nursed him while we were taking off, and he fell asleep and slept for all but the last 15 minutes of the flight!

The stressful parts? Well, we arrived at the airport a little over an hour before departure (I know, it's supposed to be 2 hours, but we have a rinky-dink airport) to find the longest line I've ever seen at the check-in counter! A local high school marching band was on their way to Orlando to perform at Disney World. Cool, but how were we going to make the flight? Thankfully, we found out there was a separate line for non-band members. After some waiting there, we flew through security and to our gate (which were on opposite ends of the airport - why do they do that?) just in time to be called to board. Then, on the flight, I had a kid kicking my seat from behind, and a guy in front of me leaning back. I'm holding a sleeping baby, mind you, and I wanted nothing more than to be out of there!

But, like I said, we arrived safely and for that I am thankful. It's beautiful here, and I can't wait to relax and enjoy some time off.

And what holiday would that be, exactly?

I saw this little story on Snopes.com yesterday about Lowe's calling their Christmas trees "family trees" in a recent holiday catalog. Now, to be fair, Lowe's admits that the "family tree" moniker was an error, and that their TV and magazine ads, and fliers from here on out will bear the word "Christmas" in the description. So please don't go boycotting Lowe's!

However, this brought a familiar ire to the surface for me. Retailers switched from "Christmas" to "holiday" advertising some years ago, which, in a way, I can understand. The "holiday" season starts right around Halloween and lasts through New Year's Day, so I can understand lumping all the holidays in this time period together for marketing ease. What I don't understand is why the "holiday" decorations and marketing are almost always related to Christmas, yet the word is rarely seen or mentioned anywhere!

If you decorate your store with evergreen trees strung with lights and ribbon, put a Santa hat on your store mascot, hang red and green banners, and play "Jingle Bells" and "Silent Night", are you invoking images of Thanksgiving? Hanukkah? Kwanzaa? Ramadan? New Year's Day? No! These are, without a doubt, solely Christmas trappings.

Why the ambiguity, then? So as not to offend non-Christians or those opposed to Christmas? Fine; I am not one to judge, but wouldn't the proliferation of the obviously Christmas theme without the inclusion of your preferred holiday encroach on offensive as well? Wouldn't you say to yourself, "Ah, my favorite store is celebrating the holiday season. Wait, what's with all the Christmas trees? Where's the (insert preferred holiday symbol here)?" When is the last time you saw a menorah in a "holiday" display? Plus, aren't retailers at all concerned with offending Christians, too?

And then there are the well-meaning employees that I will come across who will wish me a hearty "Happy holidays!" I suppose I can understand the generality here, more so than with their employers ("Happy Internet Explorer Day!" "I hate Internet Explorer - viva Firefox!"). Why risk invoking an angered response when you're just trying to do your job? Perhaps I could adopt Chef's response; an even heartier "Merry Christmas to you, too!"

In the end, I know that retailers are really just unwilling to lose even one of the $474.5 billion dollars they hope to rake in this year by potentially offending someone. I know that Christmas is becoming an increasingly commercial holiday. Fewer and fewer people are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

And that makes my heart break.

Ch-ch-changes

I liked the dots that I had going on here, but it was so dark and kind of jumbly (Google tells me this is not a word, but I say it is and it's my blog. So there.), so I've decided to make some changes. We'll start with a little cleaner, crisper look. Maybe widen the post column a bit. I'll put my meager HTML skills to work! Any fancy design ideas or features you'd like to see? Let me know!