Is there still such a thing?

As Christmas quickly approaches, I have found myself without the Christmas spirit. I truly feel that it is a much deeper feeling when you are younger. Of course at a young age the true meaning of Christmas is lost in between worrying about Santa, presents and being out of school. But at the same time things were much more simple and you were able to enjoy the holiday. You didn't have to worry about work, buying presents, entertaining friends and family, etc. Mom's were just as happy with a homemade birdhouse as they were a expensive new sweater. I'm sure that is still true but as you get older you feel guilty making a birdhouse out of leftover waterbed parts when you should go out and buy a stack of gifts. I think my problem is I worry about too much what I am going to buy for others and how I am going to afford it when doing even little things can produce the same good feeling of giving.
I had another reason to feel guilty last night. My dad, brother and I were talking last night about the gifts were were given by our employers.
My dad: Last year I got meat, a blanket and a pie. This year I got a bag of chocolate covered chips and gift certificates to Gambinos Pizza (side note: the family that owns the restaurant he works is related to the family that owns Gambinos.)
my brother: Well I got one better. The owner came up to me and had a stack of Christmas bonus checks and asked my name. He flipped through and couldn't find mine. I told him I was hired through Staffco (its a employment agency in town) and he just walked away. No Merry Christmas or anything.
me: Well my boss brought a tin of cookies and a card saying that she made a donation to a local charity in lieu of gifts.
I felt guilty afterwards because I shouldn't have been disappointed by my gift. In all of our situations (expect my brother's, something was wrong there!) we were expecting something more and were disappointed by the gifts. This is when I feel the worst with myself for not appreciating the little things. Nothing was wrong with the gifts because it was the thought that counts and remembering this is often hard. I was however reminded of the movie National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and where Clark gets a 12-month membership to the Jelly of the Month Club when he was expecting a bonus check. I wish I could have been like Eddy with my reaction to my gift. I guess the spirit of Christmas will come back to me and I can work harder on being thankful for what I already have instead of being disappointed with something that I didn't expect.