I really love the holidays. It's hard sometimes but I do. This one is going better than the last two years. I've scheduled in calm and joy. I've learned it's definitely something you have to schedule in. I had to move chaos off the calendar for a few hours. I had to consciously say no to anger. Stopped doing things that have no meaning (they may have had meaning in the past or meaning to someone else... it takes a question to the heart). I had to stop doing too much. That last one is the hardest part for me especially when people seem to have some authority in my life to tell me to be somewhere at a particular time but I was able to avoid a couple of things that were easily scheduled for another day later. Some things in life have more emotional weight. It takes time to handle and recover from certain tasks. It's also important during the holidays to know that some days just waking up brings emotional weight. The difficulty of mornings that are colder, darker and closer to the holidays with all it's parties and fun fun fun!!!! I thought a few times that I had underscheduled my day but guess what things did come up... a dead battery, a child who woke up realizing that homework had not been done after a tiring night... a sick boy... a friend in need. Never fails that life brings it on.

I just wanted to say... Merry Christmas (Mary!) I don't think there are too many people who read my blog (I may get braver in the New Year and swear once in awhile in here! /snicker/) Happy New Year and a whole lot of peace and quiet to you!