Christmas spirit is not at the grocery store

This is my favorite time of year - only that I feel like I haven't had any time to enjoy it. This past weekend, though, I finally got our tree ...

Some things I love about this season:
--I love that my husband adopts a family in need every Christmas. For someone who doesn't 'feel' the Christmas spirit, he goes out of his way for strangers.

--He also comes with me to pick out our Christmas tree; buys it, lugs it in the house, gets it in the stand and vacuums up the needles. Then he gets all the decorations, lights, boxes of paper, bows, candles - down from storage. But I do all the decorating - which I guess is a pretty good deal. For that and many other reasons, I'm a lucky girl.

--I do feel hurried this season, but I don't hate that - it's just more stressful is all

On to something much more random - the grocery store I used to frequent, is the worst of the worst. Every time I would go there (usually after 6 p.m. mass on Sundays) - I'd tell myself, no matter what I see, e.g. loud obnoxious individuals, fights over frozen meat, and worse - I WILL NOT, repeat, will not get angry, say something I'd regret - you know, I just left mass - and as my mom always says, "You're in the state of grace," even if I don't receive communion. But everytime, like clockwork, I would run into a loud, angry, awful person - different people each time, who have on different occassions:

1. ran me over with their cart
2. cut me off in line
3. cursed at me in the parking lot because I was walking to slow
4. practically hit me with their car on my way to my car with bags
5. stolen a spot - that I was not even trying to take - but they must have been under the impression that I was going for it
6. slammed on the horn and scared the sh*t out of me as I tried to cross the street

Why can't going to the grocery store be pleasant? Be calm - I just want to stroll down the aisles, get my crap without any foul behavior or pushing, pay the bill and leave. Unfoprtunately, that never happens. Maybe I should open up a grocery chain called - "Zen" ... "find it while you shop."

Merry Christmas for now...

L.