It's the end of the world as we know it.

What a busy last few weeks.  First the end of the world (hah), then too many holiday parties filled with innumerable long islands, and on to fitting all the families into one Christmas day.  All of this within a week.  I laid in bed well into the morning the day after these many celebrations, and thought, "Well, I guess I survived."  Back into my regular, non-holiday/vacation mode, I had to do the mandatory Facebook feed check, the scan of Instagram, delete too many emails, and drag my ass out of bed.  Seeing as how I didn't really have my arm connected to my phone for the last few days due to the festivities, I knew I had a ton of social networking to catch up on.  Or so I thought. 

Here's about how all of my news feeds read...

OMIGOD!!! Look at the amazing jewelry Santa brought me!!!

(caption below picture of entire bed covered in Uggs and VS Pink)

Santa did good this year! 

I got a designer purse, a new TV, and blah, blah, blah!!!

My boyfriend is the greatest! He bought me all this shit to prove his love to me!

Okay, okay.  I know that got a little cynical towards the end, but hear me out.  I love making a fancy IG pic as well as the next person, and yes, I enjoy when I get likes on my FB posts.  But seriously, posting a separate pic of everything you got for Christmas this year makes me want to punch you in the face.  For one, that's rude and selfish.  Two, it's a sickening amount of consumerism.  And three, if you need someone else liking your new crap for validity, you must need some convincing yourself.   

That reminded me of a pic of a post I saw close to the beginning of the week - I can't trace the original post, so if anyone knows the source, please let me know so I can give them credit.  The gluttony, greed, and waste really spoke to me this day.  Many times I've felt this way, but whoever this is put it into words pretty well.  

 So while it may not be the dramatic end of the world some of our peers envisioned, it is still the end of what we know and value, just as I'm sure many of our older generations felt with us.  Which makes me realize that even as it is the end, it will be the beginning.  Can you keep up with it?  I'm not so sure I can, or even want to, yet.  Does that make me old?

When I started this day, I thought of surviving the last week.  Like it was some trial that determined how valuable my previous year was.  Screw that.  It was a wonderful break from the monotony of work and life.  I got to see some great old friends, and reconnect with them after years of adulthood passed us by.  I spent such valuable time with my family, and learned to feel nostalgia at having someone missing Christmas morning for the first time in my 27 years (my little sister, Kay, is making her own life in Virginia with her husband, Peanut).  I gave simple gifts and my love to others, in hopes that they would return that love in this new year.  This evening, when I lay my head down to sleep, I won't be saying such ungrateful things like, "Well, I guess I survived."  How childish that seems to me now.  Instead, I'll be whispering my love and thanks for yet another year with you. 

Dinosaur the Min Pin with his Christmas Present

Mr. Maki Sushi is ready for the holiday!