Happy Christmas, Everyone!

Well, hello there, everyone!  And a very happy Christmas Day to all of you out there!

And, welcome to the twenty-fifth and final day of THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR.  I do hope that you have enjoyed this look back at the holidays, and I certainly want all of you to have a very Merry Christmas. 

I know I certainly plan on having the best Christmas ever - even though we have no snow on the ground.  I have only ever experienced three or four "green Christmases" in my life, and I suppose that now it will be four or five.   But that is one variable that you just can't control. 

One thing that I CAN control is how much fun we are going to have today.  Because today I am going to fill up this blog entry with a lot of surprises.

You see, I have carefully hidden several "presents" inside of this blog entry, and you will have to do your best to find them.  Most of them are going to be hiding within this text (and I purposely used blue font today to hide them a little bit better).  They could be in the form of a song, they could be in the form of a holiday special, or they could just be little surprises that I found on the Internet.  In all, I have ten "gifts" for you to unwrap in this blog.  Can you find all ten?

Well, at least part of the fun will be looking for them.  And, part of the fun of Christmas morning is definitely the opening of all of the presents under the tree.

Not that Christmas is all about presents, mind you.  Just that for a lot of kids (and some big kids, I have to admit), the anticipation of wondering what Santa brought you all comes to a head!  I admit that sometimes I got a little bit TOO anxious and I would unwrap my gifts so vigorously that I would sometimes not even read the card that was attached on the gift.

Now, that would be an embarrassing moment, let me tell you.  Imagine opening up a gift and admitting that you didn't know who it came from.  Why, you would not only feel bad about it, but you would make the person who bought the present for you feel terrible about it too.

So, here's a good tip for you all.  Remember to read the card.  

And also remember to be appreciative of every Christmas gift you get whether it be in the form of gift, food, or just a simple hug or kiss to the person of love.  As I said before, being with the ones you love most in this world makes it feel like Christmas more than the most expensive gifts in the world.

Speaking of food, I have to say that I am definitely looking forward to having Christmas dinner with my family this year.  I will tell you one thing though...with the wind blowing last night, I thought for sure that we would lose power and we wouldn't be able to cook Christmas dinner, let alone me write this blog!  But there truly are Christmas miracles that do exist, and we thankfully stayed on.  

Now, I only wish that I could make kitchen magic, but if you tried to get me to cook a turkey on Christmas Day, I would either set the kitchen on fire, the turkey would still be frozen, or I would find some way to turn the turkey into a hair accessory.  Needless to say, my place is NOT in the kitchen.

But that's okay.  I am sure my family appreciates me NOT being in the kitchen.  After all, Boxing Day food poisoning is not the kind of Christmas gift that I really want to give.  Fruitcake, maybe, but not food poisoning.

The one thing that I wish that we had this Christmas was some more snow.  Right now, Christmas is looking mighty green.  Not that it really matters much in the grand scheme of things, but I always found Christmas more fun when it was a white Christmas.  Going out and seeing snowflakes fall as you take your sleigh rides through the park, or sipping hot cocoa on park benches.  There's just something about snow on the ground that makes Christmas more magical.

Just don't go outside in stocking feet.  You wouldn't want to get frostbite on your toes.

Most importantly, as we close off this final note in the advent calendar, I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas no matter what it is like outside, or whether you have snow, or whether you have presents under the tree.  As long as you are with the ones you love the most in this world, that is all that counts.

Merry Christmas, everybody!