Don’t Yuck My Yum

A Spiritual Perspective on the Materialism of Christmas

This has become a very popular phrase among my circle of friends lately. The short meaning of the phrase is that something that I like might be something that you don't so please don't ruin the fact that I like it. For example, I really like coconut. In fact Mounds and Almond Joy are true treasures at Halloween. But for my step-mom they are torture. She despises coconut so if I see her making that scrunched up face when I'm eating one of these, I tell her, "Don't yuck my yum!"

We all just got back from a cruise for Thanksgiving. Seven of us in two cabins. Three Caribbean islands. Twenty one meals. And 44 ice cream cones (per person). It was loads of fun but in different ways for each of us. Below are a run down of each of our yucks and yums. It made for a very interesting trip.

The Yuck's and Yum's of Christmas:

As we started the Christmas season today at church, I'm reminded that there are many yucks out there for me that might be enjoyable to others. I really like the holiness of the holiday. I enjoy the candle-light services and Christmas carols. I love simple decorations and small family gatherings. But I also like the child-like commercial aspect of Christmas. Yes I said it - I like presents, animated Christmas classics that have nothing to do with our savior, and gaudy tacky decorations in the neighborhood that people stand in line to see.

Other people forget about Jesus at Christmas. Some think that tacky Christmas decorations are just, well... tacky. And even more find it just one more reason to over indulge in materialism, food or alcohol. I can go on and on about how these thing are yucky to me but I realize that even if they don't see the "yum" that I see in the holiday, they still recognize it as a holiday. They see this time of year as different and important and regardless of the reason, we all set this special time aside to do something different. And if that's the starting point for us all to agree on Christmas then who am I to yuck your yum?

Have a great Advent/December and enjoy your celebration of the coming of Christmas in whatever way you find yummy!

YUMS: Things we each loved...

• Shannon - the hot stone massage, warm melting cake, clear beautiful water, hearing French spoken again, getting to wear my awesome silver heels, and being unplugged for a week.
• John A - warm melting cake, sleeping in, the water slide, the beach, his special cruise water Karafatini
• John R. - the comedian, fries and pizza as often as possible, the towel animals, dancing with his sister
• Shane - all you can eat ice cream, getting to sleep in grandma and grandpa's room, the towel animals, the water slide, the shows
• Dori - snuggling with mom, getting to walk a lot, mac and cheese and some of mom's melting cake each night
• Grandpa - flirting with all the women on the boat and getting his picture made with three hot young thangs and being asked to have his pic made with a spunky 82 year old lady, having people laugh at his not-so-funny jokes
• Grandma - being with her family, the casino, the beach, the tiramisu, meeting new people

YUCKS: Things we could each do without...

• Shannon - the non crispy bacon
• John A. - breaking his toe
• John R. - sunburn
• Shane - getting a black eye by hitting a table
• Dori - days were too long
• Grandpa - sunburn
• Grandma - having a bad blood sugar day

There were many other yucks for some of us but those were some that were yums for others. For instance I walked into my parents cabin and looked at the mild mess and thought "Yuck!". Not that it was that messy but I couldn't have slept like that. Of course to them the freedom of being relaxed in their room was a yum.

Also as you can see, John and I really loved the warm melting cake that is a signature dessert for this cruise line. My dad took one bite and said "Yuck - too sweet!" It just wasn't for him.

Until Everyone Hears,