Just a quick note to say thanks to you all for celebrating with Eric and I on our wedding day. It was great to have you all there. I would alos like to admitt to all that I do in fact like the wii, but if my husband gets fired from his job I will have to kill you all:) Thanks again for being great friends to us both...you all are great!

Typically, one would expect me to be at the end a rather dull anecdote when, just before the near death-by-bordom accosted my audience, I would utter "Then I found five (or a higher currency value if the story was truley on the dull scale of IRS tax documentation) bucks." 

So we all know that the same letters that are in Satan are in Santa right?

Well here are a few funny Christmas Pictures and traditions below (thanks Tree):

Krampus: So this guy comes and visits children in Europe...

In some of the Ruprecht traditions the children would be summoned to the door to perform tricks, such as a dance or singing a song to impress upon Santa and Ruprecht that they were indeed good children. Those who performed badly would be beaten soundly by Servant Ruprecht, and those who performed well were given a gift or some treats. Those who performed badly enough or had committed other misdeeds throughout the year were put into Ruprecht's sack and taken away, variously to Ruprecht’s home in the Black Forest, or to be tossed into a river. In other versions the children must be asleep, and would either awake to find their shoes filled with sweets, coal, or in some cases a stick. Over time, other customs developed: parents giving kids who misbehaved a stick instead of treats and saying that it was a warning from Nikolaus that "unless you improve by Christmas day, Nikolaus' black servant Ruprecht will come and beat you with the stick and you won't get any Christmas gifts." Often there would be variations idiosyncratic to individual families.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knecht_Ruprecht

...and it's not Santa that delivers the gifts, it's Baby Jesus. See Christmas Traditions Worldwide

With people like Krampus running around, I am glad I live in the states!

UPDATE: Krampus in the news and some more pictures of this evil dude!

The United States is in the midst of a helium shortage. Large-scale users are not yet in crisis mode, but helium is in short supply because several overseas plants aren't up and running. And soon, the federal helium program will shut down for nearly two weeks.