Christmas Geek - Crib Notes

From my weekly column -

I am a little over the top when it comes to the holidays.

Oh, we’re not talking about a few too many ornaments on the tree here. This is not about being one of those people who hum a carol or two in the checkout line. This is serious stuff here. I am to the holidays what El Nino is to North American weather patterns. I am the Holiday Himalaya of the Hill Country.

I am a Christmas Geek.

I felt it was time to come out of the Chrismas closet (where there are 7 different types of holiday themed wrapping paper with matching ribbons) about this. We’ve known each other long enough, right? It’s possible you are a little Christmas geeky too…

So how can you tell if you’re a Christmas Geek? Here are some of the signs:

1. You can put your mp3 player on at noon and leave it playing until bedtime and never hear the same version of a Christmas carol twice.

2. You own more holiday movies than they stock at the local movie store.

3. You have strong opinions about how to properly hang tinsel.

4. You organize your caloric intake around egg nog consumption which means you can eat three pecans and a stick of celery a day.

5. When you unpack your holiday decorations you can finally walk through the attic. The living room? Not so much.

6. While you might struggle to remember names of people at a party , you know the name of every version of Papa Noel and know the most commonly mispronounced reindeer is Donder. (Every one leaves out the “d.”)

7. You know the words to the more obscure carols (see #1) and feel free to enlighten others when they resort to humming.

8. You have a dozen Santa hats in various styles.

9. When an ornament breaks you insist on a moment of silence.

10. The cats, dogs, and at least one stuffed animal, have individual, stylish stockings.

If you suffer from one or two of these signs, consider yourself merely festive. If you have three to five of these, then you are pretty darn merry.

If all ten of these apply to you, then I’ll see you at the Carols on the Square. We’ll be the ones in the funny Santa hats, singing at the top of our lungs – without once having to reference the song sheets.