I love Christmas. I hate the crowds and commercialism. My husband and I make our gift lists in October involving as much stuff as he can make in the woodshop as possible. Anything we have to buy we try to get bought by the end of November at the latest. We then avoid malls and shops like the plague.

For groceries we go to the local farmers' market at 6:30 am on Saturday to beat the crowds, and then we go to the grocery store for dry goods right at 8 am when they open. Then we go straight home for the rest of the weekend.

Maybe this is why we can still enjoy the season without going crazy ourselves. The insanity is so unnecessary.