Merry Christmas

I feel tranquil today; also happy and appreciative. This feels very satisfying. Today is Christmas day and my kids just left a couple of hours ago to spend the day with their dad and his family. This is my first Christmas day without my two children and my first ever Christmas day spending the remainder of the day completely by myself. I actually welcome this alone time. Some of my friends told me that this would be difficult to spend Christmas day without my kids ... well it is different, but I am completely okay with this. I think it is partly due to the fact that my kids are happy and caught up in the spirit of the day ... me too I must say. I did have them all of Christmas Eve --which by the way is my most favorite day of the year--and a couple of hours this morning. Also, I am feeling self-assured right now just because I successfully created a magical Christmas for my family and one that I could afford - nothing overboard - all within the realm of what I believe the deeper meaning of this time of year is. So today I am enjoying my home, the Christmas tree, the fire, the stormy rainy weather, I called all my closest family members and will work on some projects that are meaningful to me.

Merry Christmas!

Altering A Christmas Tradition -- Best Gift Ever

Of course a Christmas tree is must -- every year we put one up in the living room the first Sunday after Thanksgiving and it stays up in until January 2. My December budget has always dictated the sized of the our tree -- usually around 5 feet tall and I gravitate towards a Douglas Fir type tree. Then loading, nearly stuffing, it with white lights and decorate it with silver, gold, red and green ornaments that have been collected over the years. When all is done the Christmas tree looks ... perfect ... in my opinion. Well this year I stepped out of that comfort zone. I didn't mean to and to be honest to felt a little uncomfortable at first. The kids and I were visiting a friend after school a few days ago and it just so happen that her father-in-law had "weeded" some saplings off his property in the mountains and brought her family three trees early in the day. My friend asked if we would like one. Something came over me and I accepted the frail, meager 7' gift -- the kids were thrilled! All the way home all I could think of was how am I going to put lights on this tree? It reminded me of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree only much taller. Well we managed and the tree is adorable. It is definitely not "my" traditional tree. Seeing the kids proud of their tree made the change worth it to me. I am proud of myself too for flowing with this -- observing my uneasiness about this and letting it go. I truly love this tree and it makes it one of the best gifts I have ever received!