Christmas, they say, is now all about opening presents and seeing what Santa brought the little tot that still exists inside your head. No one's really sure when all that began, but they were pretty sure it wasn't like that when they were a kid. Who really knows?

So be thankful when you open those boxes and get your new pair of Nikes, or that pair of Rayban's you have been wanting. You deserve it. You do. Believe us. No one has worked harder to get that piece of personal completion than you have, but look at it, take a good look, and ask yourself if, an hour or a day after opening that box, you feel like a better person now that it's yours, what does that really mean? That's the thought spudWorks would like to leave our five readers who are on the computer this fine day instead of spending their time with friends and family. Consider what you life means if owning a simple consumer object makes you feel substantially better. It's just a thought.

It being Christmas and all, the spudWorks employees have gone home for the day. They've gone home for the week in fact. The offices are closed, and the lights are out. Not a creature was stirring... no. Not even a mouse. With any luck, they are sleeping in and spending the day with those they care about, giving thanks for what they have.

They, the same who say what was said about Christmas, also say that it's the little things that count. That's a hard one to disagree with. After all, why can't an evening at a coffee shop with a three dollar book picked up on the corner and which will stay in your mind once read equal a pair of $200 shoes? Where does it say that a brisk walk on a cold day interrupted by a street band cannot equal a new set of tools? When did happiness become about a large set of expensive possessions? Last heard, they still said that money can't buy happiness?

The point here is simple, the money spent on a pair of "hip" shoes that may or may not last a year instead of on something simple that does the job will add up to an enormous sum in not a long time that could have equaled a trip to Europe, Asia, around the country or something else a memorable that would have stayed with you until your last breath. Something that could have broadened an existence that is otherwise filled with ample amounts of television.

Spend your Christmas morning thinking about what is really important to you, then see if these gifts really make you a better person, and what you got them the same. Maybe Christmas isn't really about the gifts.

Just a thought.

Merry Christmas everyone.