Thanks and giving....

My favorite holiday has come and gone. I love Thanksgiving. I hate when it's over.

Mostly, I enjoy a holiday that requires no shopping. I love hosting Thanksgiving dinner. I like the preparation - setting the table, ironing the cotton napkins, buying fresh candles. I don't even mind having to clean the house.

The smell of a roasting turkey is the highlight of the entire day. And then there's gravy and stuffing.

I could, if given the chance, eat nothing but gravy and stuffing every day for the rest of my life.

But now my favorite day is over, and we are onto my least favorite season - Christmas shopping.

I didn't used to loathe Christmas shopping. A long time ago, I used to savor it. Being in the crowds felt festive. We were all on the same quest, looking for a perfect gift that would delight the recipient. Good cheer was in abundance.

Now, I find that my fellow shoppers feel more like competitors. Like that guy in front of me at Target will probably get the last 50" plasma television and I'd better, by hook or by crook, knock him out of place and claim what is rightfully mine.

I can't really blame retailers all that much. We have embraced concepts like Black Friday and, although I shake my head at the line of people outside Toys R Us at 10 pm on Thanksgiving, I can't help but feel that, as a culture, we have created this mess. If those 500 people in line would just stay home, maybe we would get back to normal around here.

These days, my shopping is done mostly on-line. This I can do in my bathrobe. Anything that can be done in a bathrobe ranks high on my list.

So, I'm afraid that I won't be joining the throngs at the mall this weekend.

Gotta go now - it's just about lunch time and there's still plenty of stuffing and gravy to microwave.