Nearly Christmas

This afternoon, I wrote my Abnormal Psychology exam, which was my third of four exams. My final exam isn't until next Tuesday, and since that is a week away, I decided to go home in between, so I am writing this on the train.

My last exam is Statistics in Psychology. I am not too worried about it. Since our class didn't do too well on the midterm, our professor scaled our grades up, apologised for making the exam too difficult, and promised to make the final easier. This was something that has never happened to me in a course before. I've never had a professor apologise for our low grades! On top of all that, he told us what each of the short answer questions are on, and he also broke down the multiple choice, telling us  how many questions there are on each chapter. So now, I just have to go through my lecture notes to make sure I grasp the concepts, and then do a bunch of practice problems to make sure I can apply the concepts, and I should be just fine. And that's my last exam, so, right after that, I'll be going home for Christmas!

Ah, Christmas. It is absolutely, without a doubt, my favourite holiday. The decorations, the music, the Christmas specials on TV, being with my family, just relaxing by the fireplace. Going to church on Christmas Eve and singing carols, and then coming home and unwrapping the new pyjamas my parents buy my sister and I every year before watching a movie and then heading to bed. Even though I am now nineteen years old, I can never fall asleep on Christmas Eve. It's such a magical night, isn't it?

And Christmas morning is just the greatest. I still wake up bright and early. Last year must have been the first Christmas that I slept in past 7 . . . and I woke up at 8! Heading downstairs and opening our stockings in search of the Laura Secord marshmallow Santas I've loved since I was a little kid. Those are usually my breakfast. Well, those and the ham and asparagus crepes that we make the day before! Then we spend the morning opening gifts, and calling our family to wish them a merry Christmas, and to thank them for all they gave us. Even my dog has a stocking and gifts under the tree! No way we could leave out our favourite family member.

The rest of the day we spend lounging about, talking, laughing, enjoying our new gifts, snacking on Christmas snacks. And then an early turkey dinner with all the fixings. I love spending all that time with my family. It's the best feeling in the world. We usually end the day with a Christmas movie. 

I'm really excited to be going home, because we are decorating the Christmas tree tomorrow. That has to be one of my favourite Christmas traditions. I do miss going to get the Christmas tree, though. My family and some close family friends go to a Christmas tree farm every year, where you take a tractor ride and actually chop down your own tree, before grabbing some free cookies and hot chocolate and sitting on log stools by a fire. I haven't joined them in two years. Maybe next year I will.

Are you looking forward to Christmas? What are your favourite traditions?