The holiday season can be an especially trying time for our service men, women, and families. Military service and deployment create empty seats at holiday tables, religious services, and celebrations.
The joke may be that no one likes fruitcake, but if that were the case, they wouldn't appear on store shelves every holiday season!
I remember being banned from other houses as a younger child during the winter holiday season; I was the only one who didn't believe in Santa Claus, and I was ruining everyone's Christmas.
Overspending is as certain a part of the holiday season as overeating. But pushing away from both the table and the cash register at least a little bit sooner can make the post-holiday hangover hurt a little bit less.
Fans talk to me about how 'Country Christmas' has become a holiday tradition for them and that they all watch to start their holiday season. To be a part of people's holiday traditions is a real joy.
During the holiday season, we've asked everyone within the sound of my voice that if you're going to celebrate, celebrate in a responsible manner.
My favourite thing about the holiday season is to spend time with family and friends and to take time off to celebrate.
Whatever your interests or abilities, I encourage you stay active during the holiday season.
Back when I was 15 or 16, in Dallas there was a department store called Sanger-Harris. One holiday season, I got a job as a gift wrapper there. The others were all experts who did that job every year, and I was by far the youngest person, who was totally inexperienced. In those days, department stores around Christmastime were a total frenzy.
Instead of waiting until the holiday season - when mail solicitations flood in from worthy organizations - and making a flurry of gifts because this is the time of year to give, sit down and take stock. Identify your passion, learn about it, and direct your time, mind, and dollars to aligned causes and organizations.
