Oh my, the Holidays are here again; so let the stresses and irritations of the season begin:

• Buying the correct returnable gifts and hording every receipt so the store knows you bought it there, even though it’s their own branded item.

• Standing in endless lines and always getting the inexperienced pimply-faced teenage checker who mindlessly needs the machine to tell him to say thank you and give the correct change.

• Looming possible unemployment, discontinued drunken company Holiday networking parties, and bonuses that are now as extinct as the Dodo bird.

• The in-laws, or worse the out-laws, visiting; or even more bad still, staying longer; or the ultimate bad, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation RV relative parking in your driveway.

• More huge family potluck meals; Boycott turkey and ham, where’s the beef?

• Paying property taxes in the most inconvenient time of year.

• Everything peppermint; anything that smells Holiday-ish: potpourri, candles, air-fresheners, deodorants, etc.

• Tree picking, backward tying it on the car, better re-tying after falling off and causing a pile-up, decorating, and keeping it alive only to have dried needles reside in your carpet for months later to shish kabob bare feet. If not an already dead live tree, then figuring out how to put the green plastic puzzle tree together again, because the instruction booklet got egg-nogged years ago and was tossed.

• Tangled old, one goes out they all go out, hot as hell lights and meter-spinning electric bills. Then to further be depressed by the U-Tube Trans Siberian Orchestra extravagantly lighted house video some overly-paid electrical engineer with nothing better to do created.

• Oh, but you got to love the constant ringing donation bucketers, off-key carolers, and the same old songs to be heard over, and over, and over again on the radio and in elevators, stores, and offices. So, how many times can you tolerate Santa running over grandma this year?

• If the trucker wreaths tailgating in the rearview mirror aren’t overwhelming enough, visit the store isles, after isles, after isles of Christmas wrapping papers, bows, ornaments, Santa’s, elves, Nativity scenes, snowmen, bells, red and green do-dads, and pretty festive thingamajigs.

• Then envision how many trees were murdered each year for those three pounds of daily inserted newspaper advertisements cheap people wrap their gifts in, green people recycle, and oblivious people toss.

• And how could anyone possibly forget the forever dreaded repeatedly exchanged fruitcake door stop…gee, that reminds me, I’ll have to look over who’s been naughty and who’s been nice to me notes to see who gets the blasted thing this year?

Bah-Hum-Bug! Yes, there, I’ve said it on behalf of all those people who have been overwhelmed with Jingle Bell Ho-Ho-Ho Holiday spirits since the day after Halloween.

Don't you just love twisted humor; take a good thing, blow it out of proportion, then turn it into something dreadful. But in all seriousness, it’s expected that everyone sing and be happy like Who’s in Whosville during the Holidays. However, like any green Grinch worth his ugly demeanor knows, there are two sides to every coin. Statistics show that the Holidays are either the most joyous, or the most depressing times of year. So, keep smiling and take a moment to share a smile, a giggle, or laugh with someone during the Holidays, God only knows we could use some extra cheer this year.

The coin is flipped and sails through the cold crisp air, which side will it land for you? My coin landed on it’s edge and is still rolling, as time and my thinning wallet may have an impact on which side will eventually be face up. Regardless of how your coin lands (go ahead and cheat like I’m planning on doing, select the happy side), have a safe, wonderful, joyous, and heartwarming Holiday. From all of us at Gold Country Families E-Magazine, Happy Holiday Travels.

Patrick Witz

Writer/Editor/Publisher/Photographer

Gold Country Families E-Magazine

A FREE Internet Travel, Entertainment, & Leisure Magazine

editor@goldcountryfamilies.com

http://www.goldcountryfamilies.com