US is 'officially' in a recession. Gee... you think?

Apparently the National Bureau of Economic Research has made it official: the US is in a recession.

Wow. Slow news day, guys?

Not really.

I mean, with Clinton being named Secretary of State, and the war in Mexico, and the crisis in India...

It's a complicated time, but at the very least, the Christmas season has officially begun. I am a Christmas FREAK. To the point where my familyi immediately groans at the sound of Christmas music beginning to sound from my room exactly one day after Thanksgiving. Although I rushed through Thanksgiving I've decided that this year, despite being broke, I'm determined to fully embrace the Christmas spirit.

I even made a list.

Hopefully by the end of this Holiday season I will have:

- built my annual gingerbread house
- put together my annual christmas music CDs
- put together my baskets of goodies - including candies, cookies, and etc.
- learned christmas carols on my keyboard and guitar, or at the very least learned to fake it.
- done something charitable. With what little money I have.
- written a christmas story. an original one. just because i can.

And hopefully I will have done this without gaining ten pounds.

That will be the real challenge.