This year I've received a stream of emails and seen a number of Facebook posts about how people are annoyed at the phrase "Happy Holidays." Over the years, it seems that the issue of using the phrase is reaching a volatile state. I think using phrases like "Season's Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" probably started out as a way to combine the end of year holiday season from Thanksgiving to Christmas and New Year's and just wish happiness to people and their families throughout this time of year. Then, I suppose, people perhaps were becoming offended by the phrase Merry Christmas and therefore other people in an effort to show respect to those who perhaps don't celebrate Christmas switched to using these generic well wishing phrases in hopes to keep peace. This is all, of course, merely my own speculation. In any case, it seems that now using a phrase such as "happy holidays" is now considered politically correct. And of course, as a result, devout Christians are in an uproar. That begins the stream of emails and Facebook posts about how you should always wish somebody "Merry Christmas" otherwise you're not a real Christian.
It's all ridiculous really, Christian or not. The fact of the matter is that Christmas in and of itself is, in fact, a national holiday. It doesn't matter how you celebrate it or if you celebrate it, it still doesn't change the fact that it's a national holiday. Being that it's a national holiday wishing somebody "Merry Christmas" should be as mundane as wishing them "Happy Thanksgiving." I'm not sure what genius it was that decided that it's more politically correct to say "Happy Holidays" but honestly – it's ridiculous. Christmas is sanctioned by the government therefore "Christmas" it is, and whether or not somebody chooses to celebrate the national holiday it's still just as politically correct to say "Merry Christmas" to them. Yes I'm Christian. Yes, I celebrate Christmas. Yes, I recognize it for the origin as a celebration of Christ's birth. I can always wish someone a Merry Christmas keeping in mind my personal views and celebration of it; however, given the fact that country recognizes this holiday I never feel any hesitation to wish somebody a Merry Christmas, even if they're not Christian, even if they don't celebrate the holiday. I'm still well within my right and just as respectful and certainly just as politically correct for wishing them a Merry Christmas.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
My birthday "vacation"
Not sure when the last time I posted was. I could look it up. But that would take effort.
It's been a lot of the same ol' play dates, boring days, and whatnot. Certainly some days are more interesting than others. The point is, that recently our day to day activity is pretty routine and nothing out of the ordinary.
On my husband's most recent time off from the rig we decided to take a trip to Texarkana to visit some family since we haven't been there in about a year. The trip went fairly well but I have to admit Taran was right. We definitely had to separate the boys. Noah decided to start pestering August when he got a little bit bored in the car. August certainly doesn't like extended stays in his car seat so after the early trip nap wore off it was a little more difficult and we had to take a couple of stops. All in all I can't really complain too much. A five hour car trip with two boys and only two stops? It was pretty good all things considered.
The weekend was spent going from place to place visiting various members of Taran's family. Taran, of course, helped with some projects such as helping to chain up his grandfather's truck trailer and working to make his parents Internet easier to access. We also took several opportunities to visit his great aunt who was recently moved to a home.
So in the title I mentioned my birthday. Where does my birthday come in? Well it just so happens that the Saturday of our trip happened to land on my birthday. Luckily it was just another day and just treated as part of our trip for the most part. I am slightly bitter about my birthday. It's not the aging thing. I've decided that I'm going to stay 25 until I'm 55 to get senior citizen discounts before that 25 is the only decent age to be. My birthday angst just comes from years and years of constant disappointments. I look forward to my birthday and something always goes wrong to make it either a basic letdown or something nearing the end of the world. At least for birthday person. In any case, aside from the handful of well wishes, the phone calls from my family, and the slightly embarrassing song and dance routine at a restaurant (which at least resulted in some pie, so I suppose that's acceptable) my birthday went primarily unnoticed. This, in my mind, makes for a good birthday. Taran's grandmother also took me shopping to find a birthday present. I think I slightly disappointed her because I didn't get something fun and exciting. I got something I needed: a new belt and a new pair of jeans. They may be boring and run-of-the-mill; but, I desperately needed them so I'm happy I got them.
The trip back was pretty much as could be expected. We headed out just after lunch so that we could take advantage of naptime in the car. Both boy slept for a decent amount of the trip. We took two stops after they woke up making for a good ride home.
So that's the tale of our most recent adventure. Who knows when I'll get back on to share the next exciting chapter of the Endsley's life. I'll try to make sure to let you know when something cool happens.
It's been a lot of the same ol' play dates, boring days, and whatnot. Certainly some days are more interesting than others. The point is, that recently our day to day activity is pretty routine and nothing out of the ordinary.
On my husband's most recent time off from the rig we decided to take a trip to Texarkana to visit some family since we haven't been there in about a year. The trip went fairly well but I have to admit Taran was right. We definitely had to separate the boys. Noah decided to start pestering August when he got a little bit bored in the car. August certainly doesn't like extended stays in his car seat so after the early trip nap wore off it was a little more difficult and we had to take a couple of stops. All in all I can't really complain too much. A five hour car trip with two boys and only two stops? It was pretty good all things considered.
The weekend was spent going from place to place visiting various members of Taran's family. Taran, of course, helped with some projects such as helping to chain up his grandfather's truck trailer and working to make his parents Internet easier to access. We also took several opportunities to visit his great aunt who was recently moved to a home.
So in the title I mentioned my birthday. Where does my birthday come in? Well it just so happens that the Saturday of our trip happened to land on my birthday. Luckily it was just another day and just treated as part of our trip for the most part. I am slightly bitter about my birthday. It's not the aging thing. I've decided that I'm going to stay 25 until I'm 55 to get senior citizen discounts before that 25 is the only decent age to be. My birthday angst just comes from years and years of constant disappointments. I look forward to my birthday and something always goes wrong to make it either a basic letdown or something nearing the end of the world. At least for birthday person. In any case, aside from the handful of well wishes, the phone calls from my family, and the slightly embarrassing song and dance routine at a restaurant (which at least resulted in some pie, so I suppose that's acceptable) my birthday went primarily unnoticed. This, in my mind, makes for a good birthday. Taran's grandmother also took me shopping to find a birthday present. I think I slightly disappointed her because I didn't get something fun and exciting. I got something I needed: a new belt and a new pair of jeans. They may be boring and run-of-the-mill; but, I desperately needed them so I'm happy I got them.
The trip back was pretty much as could be expected. We headed out just after lunch so that we could take advantage of naptime in the car. Both boy slept for a decent amount of the trip. We took two stops after they woke up making for a good ride home.
So that's the tale of our most recent adventure. Who knows when I'll get back on to share the next exciting chapter of the Endsley's life. I'll try to make sure to let you know when something cool happens.
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