As a child, holidays were primarily celebrated by not attending school. My family was, back a couple of generations, atheistic - we didn't even acknowledge Easter, and Christmas was - as it is for many Americans - a chance to exchange gifts. I didn't like the music, the decor was mostly annoying (we had to move the dining table into the living room to make room for the tree), and I was mostly content to just have my birthday for the gifts (though, hey, a Wii? I'll take it).
As an adult, maybe even just in the past couple of years, I have grown to like the atmosphere. I like the decor, I like the feelings, I like the carols - sans the ones sung by Justin Bieber - and I like Christmas. Of course, as an adult, I don't really exchange presents. My parents might send me a check, and my mother-in-law took me out to get a pedicure and we went clothes shopping together, but really, we don't have so much as a wreath and no physical gifts have been purchased. The only gift I've given was Skyrim, for Carina (my BGSU friend).
Of course, this year, I am going to Disney World. Specifically, in fact, I'll be at Universal for Christmas. Harry Potter World for Christmas - talk about magical. :)
Regarding the other holidays... well, there really is nothing to say. I never liked Thanksgiving, because aside from the pumpkin pie, the food doesn't really appeal to me. I'm not one to keep from the spices and cheese, and turkey roasts get a baste at much, the stuffing is too gritty to eat, and everything else is just buttered vegetables and the highly questionable 'cranberry sauce'. Until I moved up here, Thanksgiving was an excuse to see my grandpa, which... wasn't much. My grandma came over, too, but she came over no less than twice a month, sometimes twice a week, so it didn't really matter. These days, Thanksgiving is (a) on Columbus Day, and (b) a torturous event in which I need to hang out with a bunch of in-laws, some of whom are tolerable, maybe two of whom I like, and at least one of whom I loathe passionately (and she was pregnant this year, so she was infinitely less tolerable).
Valentine's? I never really had a boyfriend - I had a long distance one, but we didn't exchange gifts... because of the distance. And my husband and I were already engaged by the time our first Valentine's came around. Further, my husband's birthday is a week later, so I don't feel obliged to get him anything. He got me a Chocobo plushie and I made a nice big dinner, but we sometimes just do things like that, so it wasn't really special. Just an excuse to do something fun, really.
Halloween - I marathon a couple of horror movies and make treats. This year I made a jack o' lantern rice krispie treat, some cinnamon popcorn, and some 'worms in a cup' chocolate amalgamations, plus some apple cider and a bowl of candy. Most years this is how it goes. First year of college, Matthew and I watched a bunch of old Halloween-themed Disney cartoons, Nightmare Before Christmas, etc. and ate candy, and as a kid, my mom and I would watch horror movies and eat candy. It's a reliable pattern, if nothing else.
I don't so much as acknowledge any other holidays, so... yeah. And, on a final note, my flight back from Disney World is... next Tuesday. And I'll be on a plane for nine hours of that. Statistical odds of me making a post rely entirely on me arriving home and not being dead tired, or there being free Wi-Fi in the Chicago Airport during our layover. Think up a punishment or something now, everyone, and I'll see you when I get back. :)
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