December 11th 2009 Prioritize & Breathe………then embrace the holiday once again!
“Stress is when you wake up screaming, and then realize that you haven’t fallen asleep yet.”
~Author Unknown
December 11th……. Whoa! December is half over, and my ‘to do list’ barely has a dent in it. How can I possibly get everything done in the remaining days? Let me divulge a little secret………some years I become overwhelmed and everything on my list doesn’t get done. To be quite honest this is gearing up to be one of those years. My daughter is applying, touring and interviewing with various Art Schools, my son’s homework load seems to be double what it was last year and I was elected to public office this November. I just thank God, my Prince doesn’t have anything major happening right now! So between hours of homework with Joey, learning the Planning & Zoning Regulations for my town and the portfolio reviews, essays & trips to New York City, its a miracle I can get a Christmas Tree up! So, I scale back, prioritize and ……..breathe………
It’s not easy to decide what traditions, decorations or events might need to take a back seat this year, but the sooner you make the decision, the lighter you holiday spirit will be.
My decorations this year are still beautiful, just a few less. My porches have simple garlands & the doors have sprays, but the garden shed & carriage house aren’t dressed this year. We cut our tree last weekend, it will get decorated this weekend …….baby steps. I’ll reduce the cookie platters to have less variety, they’re all delicious so I’m sure they’ll still be loved.
Once I made the decision on what to scale back on ……….. I embraced the holiday once again. With the list less long, I took the opportunity to spend a quite dinner with my Prince tonight. We dined at a lovely local restaurant Noodles. I ordered comfort food, Penne & Cheese and Joe ordered Hanger Steak au Poiver. To say the meal was incredible would be an understatement. Heading out to dinner tonight I never expected to receive a gift, but I did. The gift I recieved was contentment. As I looked across the table, I smiled at my Prince. Life is good. So, the garden shed isn’t decorated this year………but Ashley knows I’m here if she needs a critique. I’ll miss the extra garlands along the mudroom windows……….but Joey will continue to succeed in school with my help. So maybe I won’t get the truffles made this year, they are my fav………but I will have a good handle on those P&Z regulations and hopefully represent my town well. Nope the entire Christmas village will not make it out this year…….but I’ll make time to enjoy a Christmas movie with my Prince, he does so much for me its the least I can do!
I’ll probably sleep a little less in the next few weeks, but it feels good to have some of the holiday pressure taken off myshoulders. Now I need to finish up that shopping list…………
