Friends, this is shaping up to be the most awful Christmas in recent memory, not just for me and mine, but on a national level. Take this article from the Wall Street Journal about how depressing it is to be Santa this year:

"That's what Jim Lewis did. A Santa at a Bass Pro Shop outdoor-goods store in Denver, he blanched when a blond girl in a red plaid dress recently asked for a pair of eyeglasses so she could see the classroom board. He recovered in time to motion over one of his elves, who told the girl's mother about the local Lions Club, which helps provide needy children with prescription glasses."

"Sometimes even the best training can't keep Santa from being caught off guard. Mike Smith, who works as Santa at the Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus, Ohio, says a 5-year-old girl wearing a Dora the Explorer sweat shirt last month hopped in his lap and asked, "Can you turn my daddy into an elf?" "Why?" he asked.

"Because my daddy's out of work, and we're about to lose our house," she said.

The girl's mother, standing by her little brother's stroller, burst into tears. A stunned Mr. Smith asked the girl if her father was good with a hammer, and the girl said yes. "I didn't know what to say after that, so we just took the picture," he says with regret."

"Kelly Crais, who plays Santa in the New Orleans area, says the children he sees at some parties still ask for a PlayStation 3, which starts at $299, and other wallet-busting gifts. But the children he sees for free at his local Harrah's Hotel & Casino have downgraded their lists from previous years. One 7-year-old boy recently asked for shoes. "Do you want Air Jordans?" Mr. Crais asked.

The boy responded, "No, school shoes. My shoes have holes in them.""

Hell in a hand basket, folks, we're in awful shape! When we can't even convince people dressed up as Santa to not be depressed, we've got a real problem.

Christmas is sorta tough anyway. Somewhere along the way we lost sight of the whole 'service and good feelings' aspect and instead turned it into a giant restructuring of capital -- you spend $100 on someone else, they give you $100 worth of something back, and it's like you bought yourself a gift. Not this year, though. It's a toned down Christmas.

Let's not kid: we're in an awful situation all over. I typically try to present a positive outlook on the blog, but come on, things suck right now. Even superfluous fluff, like my Christmas wish list this year, is all bogus. I have no money. Nobody I know has any real money. I've instructed everyone in my family, from direct family to grandparents, that I don't want anything this Christmas. They wouldn't accept that, so I said I wanted it donated to a charity. Somehow I don't think that'll happen either. I'd prefer they hold on to it themselves, to be honest; I think the best Christmas gift this year would be if nobody I know is homeless.

The tough one so far is gently breaking it to Andre that Christmas isn't going to be great this year. He's spending it over at his other mom's house, which is nice, but we still haven't come up with a delicate way of saying 'Hey, our Christmas gift this year is that we can pay the rent this month!'

Times will get better. Statistically speaking, they have to. But riding out the times in-between is awful. The last week or so has been full of bad news for this family in almost every conceivable way; hopefully you've fared a little better than us. Hell, maybe this Christmas is a time to get back to our roots. Hug your family a little more. Spend some time talking about fond memories. Nostalgia is free.

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