In which I could link to a lot of cool holiday music, but I don't

One of my all time favorite things about the holiday season is the music. From the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky to the A Very Special Christmas compilations to Johnny Mathis and back again to the soundtrack from How the Grinch Stole Christmas I love it all. I have a holiday compilation of some of my all time favorites which stays in the car's CD player from the day after Thanksgiving until the day after Christmas. It includes modern day classics such as 'Happy Christmas (War is Over)' from John Lennon, 'Holiday Wrappings' from the Waitresses, and the original version of 'Do They Know it's Christmas'. I absolutely love this CD and I have burned a copy for just about every in-person person I know. My daughter is growing up knowing this compilation as Monkey Hill's soundtrack to the holidays.

I just realized that hardly a song that I love to blare and sing along to is what would be deemed a 'traditional christmas carol'. Last night, we fired up the player piano and inserted the 'An Old Fashioned Christmas' disc. First up was 'The 12 Days of Christmas.' Darian and I had no idea what happened on the third, eighth, seventh..OK, we really had no clue what happens on the 12 days of Christmas. Next came 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'. You better watch out, else you get to hear us hum along to that one. 'Oh Christmas Tree' turned into "Oh, never mind." Christmas carols aren't taught in school (where I initially learned every holiday standard) and being of the non-traditional sort, we've never taken the time to teach them to our child and are far too lazy to start.

Instead, we turned off the piano, turned up the old cd player, and sang all the words to the Pretender's "2,000 Miles", dancing and spinning as we belt out, 'I hear people singing, it must be Christmas time!'. The player then shuffles, we hold heart to heart and hand in hand and sing along with the Whos down in Whoville. Diana Ross makes it into the mix with her version of 'My Favorite Things'. Elvis makes an appearance to let us know what color he turns if he can't be with us followed up by Run/DMC where it's Christmas time in Hollis, Queens. (I play the part of D, thank you very much- mom's cooking chicken and collard greens. Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese. And Santa puts gifts under Christmas trees!-probably some of my all time favorite holiday lyrics *ever*.)

Then, before we say good night to get snug in our beds, George Michael brings us the climax of our caroling with Wham's 'Last Christmas'.

This year, to save me from tears, I give it someone special.

Oh, George Michael! How you can sum up my feelings about the holidays in one pithy line!!