Friday, December 19, 2008

Black Friday?

Warning: This will not be the most cheerful entry I've written, so if you want to click off this page, feel free to do so! I really have reservations about even posting this, but here it goes... Okay, I've got to admit I've had a hard time really getting into the Spirit of things this year, while all around me I see friends preparing and decorating. We finally got our tree up this last Monday and it has ornaments on it with our Nativity below. I do love the pretty glow of the tree, the smells of gingerbread, the old familiar songs (and a few new ones the kids have discovered), baking cookies, and the memories of why we got each ornament, but this year... I'm not sure if it's the struggling economy, the unknown of what this next year will hold, or the mound of medical bills I wracked up this last year. I'm not a fan of the winter. The cold, stark, dry, dreary landscape, the grey sky I'm surrounded by (sounds like I'm in the Artic huh?) just does nothing for me! I struggle to stay warm, don't like the bulky layers clothes, the snow & ice... The pressure to find something for everyone, we have birthday's all over December and Jan., Honey wants to have a Christmas celebration with friends at our place (I know I'll have a good time when it gets here - it's all the preparations that stress me) ... I hate with a passion White Elephant gift parties (sorry friends, it's no fun for me). I'm just struggling this year. I'm a Spring Fan simply stated. I love the colors, the birds, the blue sky, spring rains, flowers, smell of spring and freshly mowed grass... Okay, aside from my love of Spring, we have done a few things this year besides the tree and the evergreen wreaths hanging on my house outside. We love the Christmas music (Jars of Clay: Little DrummerBoy Grinch mix is our favorite), but something a friend and I did this last Wednesday was host a children's Christmas celebration, while the parents were off celebrating at another home. We played hide the Candy Cane, Spoons (card game with candy canes instead of spoons), read a few stories (Wombat Devine is a favorite), watched a short annimated The Nativity (Hanna-Barbera's The Greatest Adventure Stories From The Bible) movie, made gingerbread lanterns (the star represents the star the Wisemen and shepards followed) with a small tea light candle inside to illuminate it, and talked to the kids about the meaning behind the 12 Days of Christmas song. Now, while it is disputed that this is the real reason behind the song, it certainly fit in for our evening, so we used it. The kids were very enthusiastic (do you hear what I'm really saying here - they were wound up), the project went great (here is a link to this), the kids consumed 120 Pizza Rolls and other goodies (queso, carrots and dip, puppy chow (not dog food), left happy, and their parents had a great time. Me, I consumed 2 Motrins and slunk off to bed when they all left. I think I'm Maxine this year... Please don't leave a message and tell me I need therapy, I can't stand all the chocolate (too sweet for me, but I love chocolate cake and a chocolate malt), I don't drink coffee (too bitter), Retail therapy? I don't like to go shopping (you could ask my children about the 4 days it took me to spend a Dillards Gift card). I really just wanted to be honest and I just can't find a way to be funny about it today, but hey, it's Friday and Christmas is just around the corner. ps. Yes, honey, I took my hormone therapy medicine today. Maybe I should just get out of bed and start the day! ºÜº

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sure a lot of busy Mom's feel the same as you occassionally but do not admit it. I recently finished decorating our tree this past Monday evening after it stood bare for two weeks. I guess I was secretly waiting for someone else to step in.

Love,
Raine

forever folding laundry said...

It can be really overwhelming this time of year, because it seems as if the mommy is always responsible for making sure that Christmas is 'magical' for the kids, the family, etc. Don't feel badly for feeling this way. I hope you can enjoy the time with your family. But I know what you mean about being a Spring girl...I'm right there with you. The only great thing about winter is being able to wear long pants to cover up white legs. =)

Anonymous said...

I'm right there with you mom! I'm not a big fan of the cold either. And my favorite season is Spring too! I'm glad Wednesday went well. Now you know how chaotic things can get. Love you lots!

Lorie said...

Sometimes getting it off your chest is the best. As you have probably figured out from my blog, I am not a fan of this time of year either....I LOVE that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but all of that other stuff is too much for an already busy person to handle. Honesty is the best policy...I'm glad you said it like it is.

Jess B said...

I'm SO with you on this! I just finished making presents this morning that should have mailed already. I have a few more food presents to make today or tomorrow and we leave on Tuesday night to go "home" for Christmas. It's too much and I want nothing more than the curl up around the fireplace with my kids and some cocoa and stay home. Nothing more than enjoying the kids and maybe some sledding in the backyard....now that sounds good to me! I hope you all have a good Christmas!

Lorie said...

Thank you so much for your kind comment and your support. If it hadn't been for our church embracing the theme of Simply Christmas and our pastors embracing this, I would be getting a lot of flack from family and friends for stating how I really feel about this time of year....not Christmas and it's original intent (the birth of Christ) but all the stuff that goes with it. As my pastor has said, it's not necessarily bad stuff, but it can be overwhelming and out of control. I do think spending $450billion on Christmas is "bad" stuff when there is so much more we could be doing with that money. I am not a fan of money, because it causes me a lot of stress as well. I applaud you and support you in building relationships with your children and wanting them to build their relationship with Christ, as mothers, that's what we should all long for. I'm glad you said that. I appreciate you more than you know.

Anonymous said...

I have been feeling a lot of what you've described. Christmas is over now, and I'm almost relieved. I'm looking forward to spring already, and that's not good as we have long, cold winters here that last until April. I feel lethargic and tend to want to stay home and hybernate. :)