Christmas

Thank God it's over. Not the part about having the kids here. I LOVE that part. But the rest of it ..... I'm glad that's over. The push, push, push to spend, spend, spend. The pressure, the hype. I hate it. Not to mention the nuts in the family that go even a little nuttier (let's not even go there). And I don't have it NEAR as bad as some folks I know. No wonder it has the opposite effect of what it's supposed to. Maybe this one was a little harder than usual because it's the first one without my Mom. Not that I would have seen her, but I would have talked to her on the phone. Having no money was a strain, too. I made gifts, which was fun to do and felt good to give, but it still seemed inadequate somehow. I know that's silly, and not true at all, but I think that's part of the result of being bombarded by television commercials and having those unrealistic expectations beaten into our brains. I propose that there be no TV watching next year. Record everything and watch it later, sans commercials. But I can't blame it all on that. I need to find a different way to look.

Anyhoo, having Sara and Kevin here made it all bearable. They're young and fun and just a plain old joy to have around (Lucy, their new dog, had us a bit jumpy but she's a puppy so is still learning stuff. Besides, being suddenly introduced to 4 cats can make a girl pretty excited). Sara has a way, even though she may not know it, of keeping me grounded. She does help me see different ways to look at things. So, even though I know that the rest of your Christmas was WAY crazier than mine, Sara.... thanks.

Now....I don't want this blog to be heavy and sad. So, in a little while I'm going to post some pictures of the fun stuff we did over "the holidays"....which was "Christmas" by the way for all those P.C. people out there. But that's another subject.