You know, the Christmas countdown that begins as soon as Thanksgiving dinner is devoured. That time when you pull the tree out of the attic, untangle lights (for several hours), unbox ornaments, and are just in general super excited for December 24th, and 25th.
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| My new festive snowman! |
I think sometime just before Thanksgiving, someone hit the fast-forward button on my life. Everything has been flying by, and when the week of Christmas finally came, I felt very inadequately prepared, quite a bit lacking in Christmas Spirit, as my Super Granny called it.
This year was an interesting one, though. A little topsy-turvy and probably more turbulent than most. Not in bad ways, quite the opposite, but things being hectic and new and different kind of took over and I had less time to let my merriness develop.
We took longer than usual to get the tree up and decorated. My mission to deck the house in lights and sprinkle snowmen and reindeer and icicles outside was a fair bit more complicated than I'd envisioned. Three strands of lights have blown fuses. And who knew swag lights are so hard to find now? And candy canes don't seem to want to stay put in loose garden dirt.
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| Reindeer and candy canes. :) |
To call it a disaster would be throwing it out of proportion, but in my world where Christmas is supposed to be the best, most festive, happiest time of the year? Well, suffice it to say I've been feeling a bit pessimistic.
Let's face it, I'm not a kid anymore. I miss the childish glee, the ease at which that Christmas Spirit came. It's harder as you get older, to find time between work and relationships and life in general. And when the week of Christmas came, I was basically a pessimist about the whole thing. This Christmas will suck; that's what I thought, and I was glum.
But then I had this great discussion with my Dad, about how we should be thankful for what we have, about how it's okay to be content—because I, of course, was stressed about not knowing what to ask for for Christmas, as if it's the worst thing in the world not to need anything. And you know what, this was one of my favorite Christmases, one of the ones where our gifts are silly, random, mostly small, but still so thoughtful.
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| Presents under our tree! |
And actually, one of the most popular Christmas gifts turned out to be the warm fuzzy blanket I got for Tucker. We all seem to be vying for use of it (because hey, it's super cozy).
But now, even considering how hectic it was, now that Christmas is over, the usual post-Christmas blues have rolled in.
In fact, pre-2013 blues are here, too. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to next year! But I always get a little nostalgic at the end of the year, especially when December 31st sneaks up on me. And this year I definitely felt it was a bit sneaky.
So my first Resolution is to focus on the positives—all of the things I want for my 2013. And trust me, there are plenty of things I want out of this next year. Even with the nostalgia, I'm really excited to see what the coming year will bring!
I hope you are, too! As far as my NYE plans, they're pretty mild. Spending some time with the family, watching movies, and ringing in the New Year at midnight. But honestly, that sounds just about right—starting the new year with my family, doing some of the things we always enjoy doing. What better way to bid farewell to 2012 and say hello to 2013?
So, as this is my last post of 2012, I'm wrapping it up with an adorable picture of my dog, wearing his new Christmas sweater, lounging on his new Christmas blanket. Too. Cute.
Happy New Year, everybody!
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| Tucker, cozy and cute. |
