Sometimes it's hard to celebrate holidays abroad. Part of it is that I don't have my family with me. Part of it is that the usual clues and cues are different.

This year for example, I don't feel very Christmas-y. In some ways this is good. Christmas has become a <em>very</em> commercial holiday in the States. In other ways this is hard. Other teachers seem very festive and I feel a little bit like the Grinch--like my heart is two sizes too small.

I've been wondering why I feel this way.

I realized that in my adult life Thanksgiving has cued Christmas. The Thanksgiving holiday ushered in Christmas music, sales, parties, mulled wine, sugar cookies with sprinkles and frosting and the ubiquitous Christmas tree. Sure I celebrated Thanksgiving--but I did so over about three weeks. This diffused the holiday and since then I haven't been able to catch a hold of the spirit.

Maybe it's because I don't want to or maybe it's because I am working too much. Then I realized that I just need to kick things into high gear.

So tonight's the night! <!--more-->I kicking my Christmas season off with the AmCham Christmas party. Between getting dressed up, eating and drinking and hopefully some dancing, I think it's the perfect way to launch into the holidays.

I also turned dreaming about sugar cookies into looking up sugar cookie recipes.

I browsed for wine, spices and some fruit to make mulled wine. I have big plans to drink this out of my Vienna Christmas market mug from two years ago.

I dug out a fake table top Christmas tree from under my sink. Only to realize that I don't have any ornaments. I guess I'll have to pick up a string of lights. Maybe I'll even fold some white paper cranes for the tree. It needs something.

I am planning to draw up list (and to check it twice) for gifts to buy for my family. The only problem is that after you've bought nearly all Bulgarian inspired gifts for the previous two Christmases from rose-inspired cosmetics to pottery and handmade tablecloths to rakiya it gets that much harder to shop for your family. Then again, maybe drinking rakiya while making my list will make it go faster.  But, maybe not.

I'm even thinking of lining up some Christmas music to while I am doing all of these different things. And I don't even <em>love </em>Christmas music!!

These things take work. But it's the good kind of work.

Sugar cookies and mulled wine here I come!!