Cool as a Cucumber This Holiday Season

Usually, I’d be in a full-blown panic by now.

I mean – it’s only one day until Thanksgiving.

That’s one day, Kids!

Most years, I’d be thinking of how much I must accomplish before Christmas.

You know the drill but I’ll spell it out anyway – just for dramatic effect. 😉

The shopping! The decorating! The Christmas cards! The wrapping! The baking! The cleaning!

The very thought of it would cause my heart to pound!

Oh yeah! Full blown panic by now . . .

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But not this year, and I’m not sure why.

For decades now, I’ve been part elf at this time of year, joyfully festooning every inch of the house with holiday glitter. Sir Beads has often joked that I’d tie a red bow on the toilet seat if not talked out of it. 😉

Suddenly this year, however, I sense that I’m entering a new phase in my life… a phase of simplifying traditions.

It’s time to decide what’s important, skip what isn’t, and then savor the small delights of the season. I just don’t want to jump on the holiday merry-go-round this time.

Could it be that I’m finally weary of it all? Hmmm, not exactly. I did have sort of a milestone birthday this year, and Sir Beads retired. Perhaps those experiences have given me reason to stop and reassess.

There’s so much I want to do and only so many hours in a day. It’s time to stop doing things simply because I’ve always done them.

Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE Christmas. I’m just going to try an experiment in the next several weeks . . .

I’m going to take it slow and easy – no “must-do lists”, no impossible schedules, no thinking “It wouldn’t be Christmas without ____”.

I want to stop and smell the evergreens . . . for a change.


How about you? Have you simplified the holiday season?

Hugs,
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We Need A Little Christmas

Right This Very Minute . . .

I‘ve noticed that most years I can easily catch the Christmas “excitement”, but there are some years when I seem to have a much tougher time getting into the holiday spirit. This has been one of those tougher years.

I’m not really talking about shopping, wrapping, decorating, or writing cards. I’ve already done a little of all those things in the last few weeks. I’m referring to that light-hearted, joyous, feeling we’ve all experienced during holidays past – the feeling that it’s fun and not just a mad dash to finish everything in time.

The point is, I like love that feeling. I’ve been waiting for it to grab me ever since Thanksgiving, so I was especially happy that it arrived over the weekend. The impetus? Hubby’s company’s annual Christmas party.

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Held on a Saturday evening, the party is always a lovely event. There’s a wonderful dinner, dancing, party favors, and most important of all – the time spent with good friends. Sir Beads has been with the company for 28 years; so many of his co-workers are practically family now. I must admit, I didn’t think I was in the mood to get all dressed up and go this year. It had been a really busy week, and the thought of just relaxing on Saturday night was quite tempting. But we’ve never missed the party, and I figured I’d be glad I went – so we did.

The room literally sparkled with elegant Christmas decorations. There was soft lighting, which made for a very warm, almost dream-like, atmosphere. During small pauses in the chatter at our table, my thoughts wandered to happy Christmases of the past – not only from my own childhood, but also throughout my marriage, and especially from the years when my daughters were small. I felt a spark of excitement, and then that feeling began to grow. By the time the evening ended, I was breathing a sigh of relief. My usual enthusiasm for the holidays was back!

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There are only a couple of weeks until Christmas, but now I’m ready to finish the preparations. It won’t be just a blur of chores and lists to complete. Heck, I may even drop a few of those “to-dos” from my usual list.

It took a while to get it this time, but now that the Christmas spirit has finally arrived, I’m going to focus on enjoying every second.

Hugs,

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Lucky Seven

We’re overdue for another installment of Lucky 7!

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In the spirit of taking time to stop and enjoy the little moments during the rush of the holiday season, I’ve gathered some words of wisdom with a Christmas theme.

Hope you enjoy them! Which one do you like best? 😉

7 Lovely Christmas Quotes

1. The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~ Burton Hillis

2. Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.
~ Norman Vincent Peale

3. Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.
~ Hamilton Wright Mabi

4. The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect! ~ Charles N. Barnard

5. I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.
~ Harlan Miller

6. Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
~ Oren Arnold

7. Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more.
~ Dr. Seuss (from ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’.)

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Someone Shook the Snow Globe!

Here in New England, for the last 3 days it has seemed as if we’ve been living inside of a giant snowglobe!

And I mean a snowglobe that someone was continually picking up and shaking! 🙂

It was so beautiful to watch the huge fluffy flakes swirl and dance and frost the trees. The best part was that most of it fell during the weekend – so we didn’t have to leave the house. It gave us a chance to catch up on our Christmas preparations and also to take a break from the whirlwind of rushing that the holidays so often bring.

Here was the view from our back door.

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Even if you don’t have the snow excuse, remind yourself to take a little time to relax before the holidays, ok?

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