Let us, instead, talk about what has been accomplished.
Mostly accomplished.
Sort of accomplished.
So, maybe I crossed some things off my list before they were “officially” done, but I can get partial credit, can’t I?
The Christmas cards are addressed. Not all of them because I had to get some more cards. But I got those (so cute with a barn and sheep) and I’ll finish them tonight. Of course, I don’t have any stamps yet. . .
My Grandmother’s shawl is finished, wrapped, and ready to go.
Now all I have to do is take it down to the UPS store and ship it off.
The fudge is made and ready to ship to a not-so-subtle brother I know. And I have all the ingredients for the cookies, I just have to bake them. And pack them. And ship them.
The gifts are all bought and wrapped. Um. Wait a minute. I still have one thing to get for Mom and a restaurant gift certificate for our friends and something for my knitting buddy and her husband. So, I’m really close to being done on that one.
I’m pretty close to finishing something that I’m knitting for someone who reads this blog. But I don’t think I’m going to get it done in time. I’ll be really, really close, but not close enough to get it shipped in time. She’ll understand, but it still makes me sad that I didn’t get it done.
I have groceries to buy for a food drive for our church, but I need to wait until closer to the day it’s all due because one item is a frozen turkey. So, it’s perfectly acceptable not to have crossed that one off the list yet.
So, really, I’m in pretty good shape. Mostly. Sort of.
Oh, and I made an important decision for this season. I’m not going to include the always-anticipated but never-remembered Christmas letter with the cards. It just hasn’t been that a great year. There’s one measly and ambiguous paragraph about the hubby because I can’t really talk about what he does, even if I knew what it was that he does. Then there’s the bit of a shocker paragraph about me being diagnosed with MS, even though I tried to put a positive spin on it. But there’s no way to disguise the sad paragraph about losing our Daily Dog this summer to congestive heart disease. It just gets more depressing the further along they read. And I’ve been a bit combative and frustrated, so I think that comes across in the letter. Instead of funny, it sounds snide. And although I don’t mind anyone knowing about the MS, I don’t want it to seem like I’m looking for sympathy by dropping a bomb like that. I wanna share, but then again, I don’t. Know what I mean?
So. Busy, busy, busy (said as the bad magician in Frosty the Snowman). I’m so ready to be done with all this. I think I need a little holiday cheer—in the form of Godiva white chocolate liqueur in my hot chocolate ;-)
14 comments:
Kell - my sis-in-law sent this last night and I just knew I'd find the perfect person to share it with:
"I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me and we could all use a little more calmness in our
lives. By following the simple advice I heard on the Dr. Phil show, I have finally found inner peace. Dr. Phil
proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you've started and never finished". So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this
morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Grey Goose, a bottle of Kahlua, a package of Oreos, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos and a box of chocolates. You have no idea how
freaking good I feel."
LOL! Does that describe the IDEAL way of dealing it all or what?!
I can totally understand why you don't want to include your letter. You cite good reasons and, really, do people need that news (or any for that matter) without tone-of-voice to go with it?
We love you and we support you in that you're doing the right things for you. Even if a certain knitted something isn't done on time. Or the cookies are late. Or the fudge mysteriously disappears in the mail...
Ch3ll3--You're a doll. Thank you. That was hilarious. Hmmm. I do have an open bottle of wine in the fridge. And I decided, after talking to Al, to at least give family members the letter. Most of them know what's going on, but some may not. It felt very freeing to seal up those other cards with just "Love" and a signature.
I think you have accomplished alot so don't be too hard on yourself...I refuse to stress and run myself ragged by getting everything perfect for Christmas. I saw my mom do that too many times as a kid and I decided not to do that when I was an adult. You're doing great!
And about that goofy Christmas letter that everyone thinks is mandatory....it's not, so you do what feels right!
I know the diagnosis must be hard to face most days...I will be praying that God gives you the comfort and grace to meet your needs. He always does if we trust Him (even though I know that it is hard to put that trust in Him sometimes)
Do like me and don't send out Christmas cards. That settles that little problem right there. LOL
Sometimes Christmas becomes more a deadline than an event or something to celebrate. But, a few missed deadlines aren't the end of the world.
Gracey--That's great you've already decided not to get stressed on the holidays. It's took me way too many years to realize that. And thanks for the prayers. It's a fairly mild case and besides the long learning curve I'm doing really well, I think.
Jay--Miss a deadline? Did you forget who you were talking to? I think I need to add a massage to that drink.
Chelle--So I'm not the only one who's skipping the letter. I hope you and Mike can still be friends, or at least friendly. That's got to be hard. I think you need some fudge to make you feel better :)
fudge you say fudge i love fudge! i wrapping the gifts today, the food shopping dont need to do it we off to ireland for christmas, yeah anything to get me out of cooking!
You are wise to discard the Christmas letter. Just send them your blog URL. If they care, they will come find you there.
It is so difficult to set the right tone in a letter. If something good happens, it comes across as bragging and if something bad, it comes across as whiney.
Done or not, IM impressed! I moaned to my Mom last night, "Why are all my friends so friggin crafty? They're all making and each other stuff!" She told me I was always good with elbow macaroni. :/
Her Indoors--Ireland?!? I'll bring fudge if I can go too!
JD--Tone is a tricky thing. A friend of mine and I were talking about the bragging vs whiney tone to those letters. And I don't even have kids to write about. Better to forget the letter.
Tink--I bet you make lovely necklaces. You could hang your Golden Sport on it!
Tink--Of course, I meant Golden Spork!
you bring the fudge i got your plane ticket
Best holiday cheer drink... a little scotch (Highland Park?) mixed with Drambuie. We call it a Rusty Nail here in Scotland. Is it the same over there in the colonies?
My hubster and his best friend LOVE Rusty Nails.
And I like the idea of some Godiva liqueur and hot chocolate. Hmmmm. I think we have some Godiva downstairs. Of course it's also good with butter scotch schnapps. Maybe I need to have a little of both. With assorted holiday goodies. Hmmmmm............
Neil--I'll have to try that! I've heard of that, but I didn't know what it was. I have so much to learn.
Newt--Butterscotch schnapps? I never thought of that, either! good thing the temps have dropped, I have a good excuse to make hot chocolate.
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