I’m all about Christmas.
For the most part.
I enjoy decorating; strategically placing snow globes, Santa Clauses and stuffed reindeer throughout the house, and switching the everyday guest and dish towels, soap dispensers and candles for holiday ones.
Lugging those stupid red and green over-sized plastic bins out of storage is physically demanding and the more I use, the more I’ll have to put away come January.
I love finding a tree, covering it with all of our mismatched but oh so meaningful and beloved ornaments and the scent of pine that fills our living room.
The needles drive me crazy as does having to “feed” the tree twice a day so it stays fresh. Our tree drinks more water than I do! And spending over an hour untangling strings of lights and trying to get them on the tree right was super frustrating.
I savor baking days and using cookies cutters and seeing the children covered in flour and icing.
I could definitely do without the extra lbs. or the colossal mess. Sigh.
I get a thrill from trying to find perfect gifts for people I love and have fun wrapping and attempting to make beautiful bows and avoiding bags as much as possible.
Oh, but the lack of parking spots and the long lines just to save a few bucks aren’t really worth it. The paper cuts are no picnic and I really need to practice the measure twice, cut once rule.
I revel in pulling out my mother’s Christmas dishes to use all month and like the challenge of putting together a menu for our Christmas Eve celebration.
I have zero complaints about the dishes, but trying to please everyone’s palette is damn near impossible in my family and I get testy when people meddle in my kitchen.
I adore playing cheerful holiday music (whenever the new Adele album isn’t).
But really, how many times can I hear Jingle Bells?
I like creating our family holiday greeting card and honestly don’t mind hand addressing over 250 cards.
Trying to capture a decent family photo is an absolute joke and it is high time that we cut our list WAY back!!
We avoided the dreadful family photo shoot all together this year and had Lucas design our holiday card. I adore it!
I love getting together with family and friends, all the social engagements make me so happy and I RSVP yes to everything!
But, what to wear, what to wear? And the day after fogginess makes me wish I didn’t drink so much. Plus, another evening out means another evening I’m not wrapping presents or addressing holiday cards.
I look forward to the children’s photo with Santa each year.
Of course, out of the six taken, one turned out sort of okay.
Lola was terrified! Poor little girl.
Ah, yes… the holidays. Such a delightful time of year, the sights, sounds and labor of it all. Holy crap, what a pain-in-the-ass. And it’s not like regular life ceases to exist just because it’s the holidays! There’s still lunches to be made, laundry to do, homework to oversee, dishwashers to be emptied and supermarket visits. So many supermarket visits.
It’s messy and chaotic, wonderful and fun.
I go to bed most nights in December with a tension headache. There’s so much pressure and too much to do, but still, it is my favorite time of the year.
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That last sentence says it all, and I SO relate. I love how you wrote this, because there’s so much good and there’s so much PITA about the holidays!
I loved this ‘Humbug’ post. It made me smile and that’s a nice way to start the day. I seem to have become more Humbuggy, not necessarily a word, but works well here, as I’ve grown older and into my seventies. I know what you’re thinking, I should be happy to be here, in my advancing years. I get that in spades and I am so very glad. Keeping up does seem to be more challenging though. Dam it, I am trying to embrace it with a hap-happy holiday smile. Happy Holidays to you and your family. Slainte’
You survived the holidays and lived to tell about it! Congrats! 🙂
XOXOX