Our free pre-holiday time is spent in either fighting the hordes at our local mall or getting stressed out over the fact that we haven’t yet jumped headlong into the panicked fray of rabid consumers. Giving gifts at Christmas has become less about giving and more about meeting obligations; we are essentially tithing. But of course, we must buy the obligatory gifts for the usual suspects. more

If you somehow restrained yourself from hanging your blinking Christmas lights and plastic Rudolphs before the Turkey was even stuffed, I applaud your self-control. Some people can’t quite manage it. Many, in fact, feel compelled to leave their holiday table, rush off to their local super-store and join a long line of people. Very cold people, standing in line on Thanksgiving night. So they can procure some must-have bargain crap. more