I want to buy a goat for Christmas. Maybe a couple of chickens too. Not dead ones, and not for me. I want to buy them for people in 3rd world countries. World vision has an ad on TV right now telling all about the gift of goat and chickens. I thought it was a fantastic idea. My sister mentioned this to me last week. She wants her boys to give her a goat for Chrtimas. When she said that I thought maybe she was a little nuts. What, put a goat in your back yard??? It would freeze in our 30 below winters. She would have to bring it in the house. She lives in the city. It would not be an ideal situation. Then she explained to me about buying a goat for people in other countries. 2 goats would provide milk and cheese and also breed to have a whole goat family, and so on.... I feel Christmas is so materialistic. There is so much hype about gifts, gift, and more gifts. The real meaning gets lost. For me It's about the birth of Christ. To others it's about peace on earth or whatever your belief is. My point is that we lose the meaning and it just becomes a stressful time, spending money we don't have, and eating way too much, forgetting that there are human beings with totally nothing. They go hungry every day. They don't get even a gift at all. I say this every year that I am going to keep Christmas simple. I would really like to do it this time. I'm calling my kids and my parents and friends to see if they want to chip in with me and buy a goat to make others lives better.