It's the season to be jolly???

I've never really completely liked Christmas season. When I was a kid (yes, I know I will start talking about walking 10 miles in the snow without shoes... wait; it never snowed in my hometown!) most of the times I got small gifts from Santa (or my parents when I grew up) which meant that I was being naughty during the year, so I did not really enjoyed them (Note to Santa: I am exaggerating! I was extra good this year!!).

The part I really enjoyed was having my family there. When we stayed in Sinaloa, all my mother's brothers and sister would come back from wherever they were living and stayed for a couple of weeks; all my cousins would be there and even though I was the eldest grandchild of my maternal grandparents I had a great time with all of them around. There were times we went to Guadalajara, Mexico City or Orizaba (Veracruz) with my father's family and I had a great time too.

But nothing better than spending New Year's eve at my parents house, with all my brothers and sisters and eventually with all of our families (we are 4 brothers and 2 sisters; all brothers and one of the sisters are married already). I like the closeness we share at that time; I mean, extended family is great, but you can get a little tired. Specially when both my parent came from families with 6 brothers and 2 sisters; from my father's family we are 30 cousins and from my mother's we are 24 cousins; so imagine the family gatherings...

Anyway, this was not the purpose of today's post. I was about to rant more about how I dislike the "extreme" shopping that takes place in this season; how the first time that I tried to cross the border in Christmas season it took me 3 hours to get it done; after one of the homeless guys that hover around that area stood in front of a car to let me change lanes... or the people fighting for the most stupid thing at the stores; being rude, etc., etc.

But; in any case, if you like it, enjoy it; the cold invites to have a hot drink (chocolate comes to mind) and to share your time with family and friends; not going out for the sake of it.

My parents will be here tomorrow; let's see how it goes (I still feel like a child around them, sometimes).

See you around.