My favorite part of almost any holiday may be the days following the holiday, when the pressure has lifted and you can stretch and yawn your way back into a normal routine.
Of course, there's little that's normal about the calendar days we are in now. The countdown to Christmas comes with it's own manic highs and desperate lows. I'm hoping to regulate the highs and lows this year with my hands as I make gifts instead of flop sweating my way through shopping we cannot afford. I'm grateful that I have the time to bake something special, or knit, or decorate.
I like the idea of advent, of getting your heart ready for Christmas, whatever the holiday means to you. I'm looking forward to the holiday this year with a lot less dread and a lot more hope.
I am a believer in lighting the darkest part of winter with twinkle lights.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
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Hey Laura --
ReplyDeleteThree out of the five of us have birthdays in December. We've scaled back a lot from the days when we had the big family gatherings here, but it still exhausts me.
This year ... I'm uncertain about everything. Should I unpack Christmas? While I'm packing everything else? How much Christmas should I unpack? What should our plans be re: the birthdays and Christmas Day? I am frozen in my state of uncertainty. Not unpacking or packing. Frozen.
Well, Mark just left this morning to return to Hot Springs. Maybe this a day to take stock of things before beginning December.
I definitely think that your suggestion of twinkle lights will help. They're hopeful and soothing, aren't they? :)
Hey Laura. I'm sending safe travels to Mark.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to create a less exhausting holiday this year. I'm already doing big cleansing breaths.
If it were me, I would unpack Christmas completely, twinkle lights and all. Next Christmas you will be in Arkansas (hopefully earthquake free)and a lot of things will be different. Moving keeps you in such a strange state of limbo but your life and your holidays are still happening, despite all those boxes.
I think we'll be celebrating more and spending less this year--there's so much to do and feel without pulling out the Visa. And I'm feeling strangely calm about it all, too. I've done a bit of shopping, and I've noticed how easily I'm pulling back. Deciding that this is enough...that I don't really need to get this person another present.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh, twinkle lights--just the words make me happy!