This year, we were headed out-of-town to visit family for Christmas. This shortened up my time frame quite a bit for getting everything done. I had been extremely busy the week before making gobs and gobs of homemade goodies and putting gifts together to give and to ship. All of the gifts are due at the same time every year it seems: office staff at school {where I volunteer}, kiddo's teachers and classmates, hubs' coworkers, friends, and family gifts to be shipped. I made more homemade goodies this year than ever before! Whew!
Every year I run out of time before Christmas and have to let one or two little things go, but this year? Wow - I really let go! And believe me, it wasn't easy. I have high expectations for myself at Christmas time.
I compare myself to the people who get out 10+ bins of decorations *and* make their house a wonderland the day after Thanksgiving, the people who get professional family photos *and* send out their cards at the beginning of December, the people who host Christmas parties *and* host Christmas breakfast/dinner with family, and the people who actually wrap all their gifts with pretty paper *and* bows! I love all of these people! But I have to remind myself that these fabulously talented people do not represent the majority of people and it's perfectly okay that I am not like any of them. It.is.O.K. {Still reminding myself there.}
Rather than go into the long drawn-out stories leading to each thing that didn't happen, I think it's better to just make a list.
UN-Christmasy
- Did not take a family photo of ourselves
- Did not write a Christmas letter/puzzle etc.
- Did not send out Christmas cards {after 15+ years of doing it - *gasp*}
- Did not really decorate for Christmas
- Did not spend an evening driving around to see Christmas lights
- Did not even attend our school's Christmas concert {sshhhhh...}
- Did not play every Christmas CD we own
- Did not have a special Christmas breakfast
- This one will really freak you out--->Did not wrap the Christmas gifts we gave to each other!
Christmasy
- Made lots & lots of homemade goodies and packaged/distributed before Christmas
- Had all Christmas gifts purchased well before Christmas
- Put lights up on the outside of the house
- Put up the tree that has lights already on it {but didn't decorate it - LOL}
- Enjoyed the Christmas lights we saw everywhere as we drove around
- Attended a brass band's Christmas concert
- Played 3 of the Christmas CD's several times
- Made a yummy dessert to take out-of-town and eat Christmas Day
- Delighted in the gifts we surprised each other with
- Visited with family that we don't see often
- Enjoyed celebrating Jesus' birth just the same as we do all year long
And hey - one can always use photo-editing sites to create a truly *lovely* family picture collage to remember the year. Like this one...
:)
{My son does not look like that naturally - that's his own disturbing photo-editing work.}
I hope you were as blessed at Christmas as our family was and I do pray that all of you have a wonderful 2013!
Our Christmas sounds a lot like your Christmas but I did manage to decorate the inside of the house all nice but that is usually because I know I'm going to have our party and it motivates me.
ReplyDeleteAnd we have yet to take our family picture. OY! No cards here either. No purposely going to look at lights. I didn't even bake anything. *GASP* And then to top it all off hubby woke up sick but despite it all we still enjoyed Christmas and remembered what it's really about anyway. Jesus Christ our Lord!
Big it's still not to late to look at lights because people still have them up size hugs to you.
Love your honesty my friend.
HUGS!
Kim
We didn't go as all out as I would have liked to this year. I didn't even get a wreath on the front door. That is a first for me. But you know what? Christmas was still wonderful. :)
ReplyDeleteI did send cards though. It was my daughter's first Christmas so photo cards were in order this year. :) I was tempted though. So tempted to skip at least the letter but alas, my husband wouldn't hear of it.
It sounds like you did PLENTY! It is easy to compare or to feel we didn't do enough. However, it is OK if you do things differently each year. It's your personal celebration of Jesus' gift and blessings to you, and life is always changing!
ReplyDelete