What I Love About Christmas

I made this list a long time ago...and it still holds true.What I love about Christmas:

100. trimming our tree
99. drinking hot cocoa (even when sweating in the Philippines)
98. Typhoon Season
97. No school
96. Candlelight 11pm communion service on Christmas Eve
95. then coming home and eating eggnog pie with friends
94. sleeping in
93. ham
92. scalloped potatos
91. crazy uncles
90. crazy brothers
89. unbuttoning pants after the meal
88. decorating hundreds of cookies with paintbrushes
87. giving them away
86. eating the leftovers
85. eating the raw dough
84. making the other 100 types of cookies
83. the fact you're still reading this
82. candy canes that I never eat but always admire
81. Christmas concerts
80. Christmas music
79. Handel's Messiah
78. a time when everyone loves classical music
77. mom's candy cane bread
76. vacations at the beach on Puerto Galera
75. advent on Sunday nights as a family
74. dad reading the Christmas story
73. are you still reading this?
72. singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" with the roommies at the top of our lungs
71. Christmas parties with 'the gang'
70. shopping for others
69. watching people open carefully thought-out gifts
68. secret santas
67. hiding presents before Christmas
66. trying to find where mom hid mine
65. While You Were Sleeping
64. White Christmas
63. bending pine needles and breathing the scent in
62. hugs
61. wrapping presents
60. lighting candles
59. untangleing twinkle lights
58. stringing garland on the banisters
57. stockings hung with care
56. opening the stocking on Christmas morning
55. laughing at last year's christmas morning bed-head pix
54. laughing at any pictures from the past
53. crazy malls with the decorations
52. driving around looking at all the lights
51. hearing the fireworks start going off on Dec. 1st by the neighborhood drunks
50. then realizing it was a coup attempt by the rebels to overthrow the government
49. which meant no school for a week
48. nativity scenes
47. 4 hours of daylight in Sweden
46. fika in Sweden
45. crazy cousins in Sweden
44. those occassional Christmases spent with Mom and Dad now that I'm grown
43. realizing I'm over half-way done with this list!!
42. Why-oh-why did I start at 100?
41. snuggling up in blankets
40. making snow angels
39. playing in the mounds of wrapping paper after opening our gifts
38. realizing that was more fun that half the presents I got
37. but still loving what I got
36. unwrapping the melted gum balls GrandE sent me from the US
35. finding that the ants beat me to the gum balls
34. learning how to braid on My Little Ponies
33. getting my pet mice from my brothers
32. learning how to torture the poor things
31. then saying, "But they LIKE it, mom!"
30. going around to other people in our mission and carolling as a family
29. those awkward mission Christmas parties
28. Uncle Doug terrifying me by saying all little girls grow up to be boys and vice versa
27. watching Dad break his tail bone while showing us how to REALLY sled
26. yup, we didn't try it after that...
25. freezing by the fireplace while my cousins tried to convince me that skiing is fun
24. fruitcake...I know, I'm weird
23. getting sick from all the sugar
22. singing Christmas hymns in church with the organ
21. I'm almost done!
20. shouting so my grandparents can hear me
19. babysitting my cousins
18. hearing my grandfather ask when I'll ever get a boyfriend
17. and promising to introduce him when I find 'the one'
16. the smell of grandma's house before they moved
15. city decorations up in September
14. down in August
13. coming home from church at midnight on Cmas Eve and realizing it really does only take 15 minutes to get home when there's no traffic...instead of the usual hour and a half
12. tying bells around the poor dog's neck
11. and throw on that santa hat, too
10. tasting snowflakes
9. stepping into a warm house from the cold
8. fireplaces that roar
7. and burning my butt from standing too close
6. peppermint mochas at Starbucks
5. homemade gingerbread cake
4. gingerbread houses that never get built because we eat it first
3. Christmas ornaments
2. laughing out loud
1. you...because you read the whole thing!