I so agree with you, Chiy! A great excuse to go totally overboard. I'm going to try and remember all the holidays that I ruined for myself by allowing them to fly by without me even savoring what they were all about - sitting under the tree opening gifts with such a horrible hangover & shakes (having stayed up until 3am) that I couldn't wait until it was late enough to have a "little something" to put out the fire. Relatives would come over and have tea, but I'd have wine in my tea cup. I remember waking up the day after Christmas, walking out into the living room, and being shocked that all the gifts had already been opened the day before. Then I remembered, of course, that Christmas had already come and gone! I used to love the holidays and hated what I allowed them to become - an excuse for overindulging in every way possible. They passed by with me not even being in attendance. Thanks for reminding me of this.