Christmas is Upon Us!

I'm really feeling the Christmas spirit this year, even though it was 61F here yesterday... But, I'm confident Indy will produce a white Christmas for me this year. Anyway, Lori and I will be traveling back home to Indy tomorrow to see family and friends. Needless to say, we're excited.

Here's a great video making the rounds on YouTube (already at 9.2 million hits). After Lori and I downloaded the song, we found it on YouTube and then realized that the group is from Indiana University, woot woot!! Take a listen, it's awesome:

Holiday Statistics and Random Facts

I love statistics. Not the class you took in high school/college, but rather facts and figures of everyday things, like the population of the ten biggest cities, the coldest/hottest temperatures ever recorded, etc. So, here's some holiday statistics and some random facts that I dug up:

-Approximately 20 billion letters, packages and cards will be sent in the U.S. between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

-A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.

-During the 6-day Thanksgiving travel period, the number of long-distance trips (to and from a ­destination 50 miles or more away) increases by 54 percent, and during the Christmas/New Year’s Holiday period the number rises by 23 percent, compared to the average number for the remainder of the year.

-An artificial spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees. A spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck.

-Americans bought 31.3 million real Christmas trees and bought 17.4 million fake trees in 2007.

-An average household in America will mail out 28 Christmas cards each year and see 28 eight cards return in their place.

-Charles Dickens' initial choice for Scrooge's statement "Bah Humbug" was "Bah Christmas."

-Christmas caroling began as an old English custom called Wassailing - toasting neighbors to a long and healthy life.

-Jewelery stores did 21% of their year's sales in December last year.

-Christmas trees are edible. Many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can be eaten. The needles are a good source of vitamin C. Pine nuts, or pine cones, are also a good source of nutrition.

-During World War II it was necessary for Americans to mail Christmas gifts early for the troops in Europe to receive them in time. Merchants joined in the effort to remind the public to shop and mail early and the protracted shopping season was born.

-For every real Christmas tree harvested, 2 to 3 seedlings are planted in its place.

Interim

Lori and I just got back from 10 days at home for the holiday. We had a really great time and we're already looking forward to going back for Christmas. I've kept my distance from the news because I want to enjoy the holidays, however it's hard to completely ignore it. The Bombay (I prefer the old name, vs. Mumbai) shootings, the economy, Obama's cabinet picks, the Big Auto 3 bailout, etc.

So, we're officially in a recession now, but instead of repeating the mantra of doom and gloom to yourself, look for the positives out of this:

• Gas is extremely low and will probably go lower. An increase is unlikely in the near future.
• Inflation is actually pretty low (3.66%) and may actually drop.
  
• Consumer prices (related to inflation) dropped as well, hence why Black Friday was so nice this year (I hope you took advantage!)
• Interest rates are really low on existing debt (i.e. student loans, mortgages). However, pay off those high interest debts immediately.
  
• The dollar is generally surging against other currencies because the world still believes that we are the bedrock of the world's economy, thus vacations abroad are cheaper right now.
• Great time to buy a car (GM, Ford, and Toyota all dropped more than 25% in sales), thus prices and discounts are much higher right now.
• Charitably giving is actually either maintaining or increasing despite the economic times.
• Wonderful time to pay off loans against your 401(k) or pay into your retirement vehicle because your money will buy you more shares. Do it!
• And finally, recessions are cyclical, so we're just in that place right now, but this too shall pass.