Holiday Tradition

The mall has been decorated since the day after Halloween, Christmas music started playing on the radio some time last week, and Thanksgiving, the food-filled holiday that gets the countdown rolling, is this Thursday. But still, even though I've pulled the decorations out and bought the cards to mail in the next few weeks, it just doesn't feel like Christmas is coming.
I started watching holiday movies and have plans to see The Christmas Carol on IMAX next weekend. (It was going to be this weekend but New Moon won... as if there was ever a competition). Nothing I do is getting I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas stuck in my head like every other year before. Even the Waitresses can't get me to do Christmas right this time.
Then I read the quote from Kate Moss saying that nothing tastes as good as skinny feels and it kind of came crashing down on me. I couldn't agree with her less. I'm very far from Kate Moss skinny though so maybe supermodel thinness comes with a feeling of euphoria that I'm not aware of (or maybe that's just low blood sugar). Still, I would gladly pack on those extra holiday ten for a chance to enjoy real stuffing. I wouldn't hesitate to add an extra hour to my gym time in order to have oatmeal cookies for breakfast, butter cookies with lunch and of course a cup of hot chocolate with chocolate chip cookies before bed. (I now see why I don't know what low blood sugar feels like). It's not just the cookies though, it's the candy and cakes, the three hour long dinners out with friends you only see once a year and the holiday work lunches where everyone eats so much we all just stare at one another like cows slowly blinking as we digest.
You spend all this money on giving holiday cheer to others, the food is your cheer to yourself. Maybe it's not healthy, but it's only for a month - one month of treating yourself to a little indulgence. This is the time of year when you're supposed to enjoy yourself, when you're supposed to reward yourself for finally putting all the decorations on the tree, finding a gift for everyone on your list and wrapping them! And those freaking Christmas cards, how do you write them all without the promise of a sugar cookie after every five completed?
I'm having a hard time this year and it's not even December yet. I could try to bake gluten-free cookies that I know won't taste the same, I could make the long trip to pick up a pie that no one will touch but me. I could even order twelve salads at the holiday work lunch just to feel as full as my co-workers. But it's not the same... and what are the holidays about if not tradition?
Maybe Kate Moss knows how to start new traditions...