national sibling day

I just discovered that today is officially "National Sibling Day." Who knew? Being the oldest, wisest, and least attractive of 4 children, I should know these things.

In honor of National Sibling Day, allow me to honor my siblings.

Kari Jo (2nd from the left) is 27 years old, is married to Rodney, and has a wonderful 6 month old son, Grayson. She has a master's degree in education and is a middle school teacher in Kentucky. She's a wonderful singer, is very thoughtful and caring, has an infectious cackling laugh if you get her REALLY cracked up, enjoys swimming in their backyard pool, went through a mean-attitude-hellacious-demon stage of life when she was around 8-11 years old that is hard for me to even imagine now, and is really good at picking on our brother, Brandon.

Speaking of Brandon, far left. He's 19 years old and is currently a freshman at the University of Kentucky. He's witty, a little moody, can be quite thoughtful when he wants, and spent much of his childhood playing Ninentdo and Play Station. He's pretty good at all sports, but is currently the most adept at tennis. I don't think he has a major right now, but has expressed interest in the FBI, CIA, CSI sort of field. I have incredible memories of his childhood up until he was age 6, which is when I headed off to college. We shared a room for those 6 years, wrestled a lot, played sports in the yard, and had a lot of fun times.

Kaly, 2nd from right, is our youngest sibling. She's 16 years old. She's very smart, has an amazing voice, is also quite witty, and has a pretty typical teenage female temperment....mean, nice, sort of nice, mean again, not talking, talking all the time, laughing, growling...you get my point. =) She's really funny though, and has her heart set on a career in dermatology. She's destined to invent the next generation of Pro-Active, which will actually make people 2 levels better looking just by applying. Are you a 6? With Kaly's future creame, you'll be an 8.

Unfortunatey, because Brandon was 6 and Kaly only 3 when I left for college, I've missed much of their growing up. That has really bothered me more as time has passed. Now that they are older, I just now feel like I'm getting to know them and be friends with them again, which is cool. Kari and I definitely had some rough years as siblings when we were younger, but for the last 10 years or so we've been much closer, spent weeks at church camp together, developed a better friendship as adults, things like that.

Being the oldest of 4 has definitely meant more to me as an adult than as a child. I think more about my siblings, wonder how they're doing, hope they're succeeding in whatever they are doing, worry about them, and look forward to many years of shared time and fun together. Kari, Brandon, and Kaly....I love you all very much, and am proud to be your big brother.

Topic #8 - "The Christmas Season"

Disclaimer...my opinions in this post have nothing to do with the fact that Christmas truly exists to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, of which I am extremely grateful. It deals with Christmas as a "holiday season", celebrated by the masses, many of whom may not have a speck of faith in Christ, but enjoy the holiday nonetheless.

With that in mind, here are the things that I truly ENJOY about "The Christmas Season":

1. The weather. For some reason, in the last 3-4 years, I've grown from hating cold weather to actually really really enjoying it. Weird.
2. Days off. If you include Thanksgiving and New Year's as a part of the entire season, you normally get to enjoy quite a few days off from work. Nice.
3. Rudolph, Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and any other classic Christmas cartoons.
4. Christmas services at church. No matter what denomination you are, what church you attend, or what type of services they do, you know at Christmas time you'll be talking about Jesus and singing familiar Christmas worship songs.
5. Eli's anticipation of Santa Clause. How fun is it to be young enough to still believe in Santa? I love hearing him talk about Santa, what Santa's going to bring, seeing Santa at every mall, etc.
6. Christmas lights. I've always enjoyed driving through neighborhoods looking at the wide variety of decorations, lights, yard displays, and more.

Here are the things I truly DO NOT LIKE about "The Christmas Season":

1. Gift buying. I know this sounds harsh. But I'm really tired of buying gifts, getting gifts, expecting to buy gifts for people I don't think I should be buying them for, getting pressured to participate in gift exchanges at work. I think Christmas would be so much nicer if it were more like Thanksgiving...just a time to relax, eat good meals, be with family and friends, and remember Jesus.
2. Sale prices. Some people see the $20.00 pair of shoes that are normally $60.00 and think it's awesome. I see it and often think, "man, they are really ripping people off throughout the rest of the year when they sell those for $60.00." Really, when you see how low stores will mark things down, it almost makes you wonder why we would buy anything the rest of the year?
3. Political correctness. Happy holidays. Enjoy the season. We wish you a happy holiday season. Crap, crap, crap. It's especially disheartening when 90% of the "Christmas" cards don't really say anything about Christmas or Jesus. Which leads me to...
4. Christmas cards. This has been a pet peeve of mine for a looong time. I truly do not like to receive Christmas cards that simply say, "from the ____ family". If you can't take time to write a personal note, include a family picture, or put together a more creative card, please don't send out Christmas cards. Just my opinion. =)
5. Christmas falling on the 25th. The 25th is the day we celebrate Christ's birth. But any research will tell you that Jesus probably wasn't actually born on December 25th. I wish Christmas would always be on a Friday or Monday. That way - like Thanksgiving - you could always have a long weekend off of work and really fully enjoy the holiday. Doesn't it stink when Christmas falls on a Wednesday or a Saturday, and you end up not getting any extra days off?
6. Increased stress. Isn't this the opposite effect Christmas should have on us? Shouldn't we be happier, more reflective, and slow down? Instead we have 7 different gatherings to go to, 20 gifts to buy, increased traffic everywhere we go, and a personal budget crisis. It's just not right.

Well, those are my thoughts. I'd love to hear yours. And I want to wish everyone a very happy and joyful holiday season and may you and family enjoy each other's love and company as you rip off the wrapping paper and think about which things you're going to keep and which you're going to take back for exchange. No really...Merry Christmas. And thank you God for sending Jesus.