Joy To The World

In the past 60 days we've been out of town 30 nights, had people overnight in our own home another 6 nights, I've broken my elbow, hosted two dinner parties separate from the aforementioned company, done the usual grocery shop-bill pay-laundry-haircut-volunteering things on my weekly to-do lists, and all of that to say...we've been busy.  

We are in serious need of a recharge before the holiday crew rolls in, which if you're counting happens in something like 25 days. We have five holiday related events in the next two weeks which will be loads of festive fun, but also, where's my nap gonna go???

The thing about this season of the year is there is always something you could be doing and maybe even should be doing, but I'm including times of rest and quiet on my to-do list too. If I don't, by the time my family arrives I'll be like Bumble the Abominable Snowman before his tooth was pulled. 

Less is more, right? Except stuff needs to get done and somebody's gotta do it. 

There's shopping, wrapping, mailing, addressing, meal planning, meal shopping, meal cooking, baking, cleaning, decorating, and whew! December can exhaust and overwhelm and most especially it can distract from the baby in the manger. From the simplicity and the beauty and the peace that is ours if we don't allow ourselves to be derailed by the modern world, social media, and some unwritten expectation that things need to look a certain way. 

Talking to myself here but perhaps you feel it too? 

Hey, remember Thanksgiving? Remember how for the entire month of November everyone was focused on their many blessings instead of their many to-dos? Let's keep calm and carry on this way, k? 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Daughter2, her hubs, her darling little boy, and my mother-in-law. Daughter2 trekked over to pick up her grandmother earlier in the week and then we took her back home when we left on Friday. 

Four generations right there which is so, so special. 

It was a relaxing couple of days. My son-in-law smoked the turkey and we had all the usual sides. I was in charge of the sweet potatoes which I forgot to bring from my house to hers so had to run up to the store soon after we arrived. 

Told you I need a nap. 

Little guy had his first taste of 'real food'-cereal, and he was all in. He loved it once he realized what was happening, and watching a baby take their first taste of anything is a day brightener for sure. 

We left Daughter2's house Friday morning to take my mother-in-law home, with a stop at Benton's ennroute. Have you heard of Benton's? They have a great story, but basically it's the best, smokiest bacon, ham, and country ham you'll ever eat and you should get some. They ship but it's also served in many higher end restaurants around the country. 

Actually Mr. Benton came out and chatted with us because it's that sort of business and he's that sort of man. We bought some bacon to take home and we ordered a holiday ham for Christmas which hubs will pick up in a couple of weeks. Mr. Benton himself told me how to cook it and I'll be following his instructions for sure. If you want to read a little of his story check out the article he was featured in a while back for Garden and Gun magazine (On The Iberico Trail) 

We spent Friday night at hub's brother's house, enjoyed their leftovers, watched football and basketball, then got on the road to head home Saturday morning. We were hoping to avoid the nightmare holiday traffic that was sure to happen Sunday and we mostly did. Traffic was light and we stopped for a lunch break at Sierra Nevada because they have a great patio and we had the pup with us. He was a model guest. 

We got home late afternoon, unpacked, and then I left hubs with the leftovers we'd brought home while I soaked in the tub for an hour. In my opinion, a long hot bath is almost as restorative as a nap. 

And now we're here. The first Sunday in Advent. 

While it may feel like we've been talking about Christmas for weeks now, today is where it begins for me.  Advent is the season where I make a conscious effort to quiet my heart and my brain and my need to do-do-do, and listen instead as heaven and nature sings. 

May we all make room. 

No Foolin'

In spite of being super slack in the blogging department lately I've managed to sign up for the tenth annual April A-Z blog challenge. I always enjoy this particular exercise and it usually gives my blog the little oomph it needs to keep sputtering on.

It's not necessary to have a theme, but I know me and know I need a jumping off point if I'm going to write 26 posts in 30 days (no Sunday blogging in the A-Z). I've participated in five of the ten A-Z challenges and every year I say I'm going to write a few posts ahead of the launch date and schedule them to publish. What actually happens is I blog on the fly, and that's likely how this year will play out too.

Let's get crackin', but first my theme. Keeping it short and sweet, and I'd like to think simple except I'm sure I'll manage to complicate it somehow.

Delight.

That's my theme. It's also my word for the year and I want to dig in a little. My plan is to write about things that delight. Also going to write about a few things that don't because I like to find the silver linings.

A is for Anticipation

I know it's the year 2019, but I'm still using a paper calendar. I'm a big fan of the week at a glance format, and love flipping the page to a new week or month to see what's waiting for me there. That app on my phone doesn't provide the same level of satisfaction as a planner whose pages I can turn, fill up, and re-visit does.

While I do love making plans and looking forward to seeing them materialize, I also take great delight in glancing at the week ahead and discovering a day with no plans on the calendar. It's possible the sense of anticipation I feel for a day on the horizon that's all my own ranks right up there with my birthday.

It seems we live in an age where we don't want to wait for things. We want what we want and we want it now. For me anticipating an event, special occasion, visit with a loved one, an extra special longed for gift, or a trip somewhere fabulous sometime in the future is a huge part of the pleasure those things bring.

I was always that mom who when their daughter said she wanted a new 'fill in the blank' told her to "put it on your birthday list" or "ask for that for Christmas".  Looking forward to new things and new experiences is for me, an integral part of the enjoyment of those longed-for things and experiences.

Hubs and I were talking recently about Saturday morning cartoons when we were kids. While I don't remember a lot of the specifics what I do remember is how much we looked forward to Saturday mornings. We didn't have our favorite programs available 24/7 and there was something about having to wait for your show from week to week that made watching in your pjs feel more like a deliberate experience and less like mindless viewing.

Anticipation brings delight. Not all the time of course (think anticipating a call from your doctor, your CPA at tax time, or a dental procedure scheduled in a few days time), but mostly when I hear the word I think happy thoughts. Good things. Something to look forward to in the near or distant future makes my heart zing a little.

Christmas. A holiday booked months in advance. A visit three months from now from a grown child living many states away. When my daughter leaves our home for a cross country flight back to her own it helps to know when that next visit will happen. Anticipation starts brewing almost as soon as she's out the door.

I like thinking about spring travel in the middle of a long winter, and while I think we've gone a bit overboard on all things Christmas, the month of December is filled with anticipation of the very best kind.

Don't even get me started on babies being born and babies getting married.

photo credit: Chris Isham Photography

I know there's a flip side to anticipation. I know sometimes we can build up an event or looked forward to moment to an unreasonable level, then spend the actual event feeling disappointed and melancholy it hasn't lived up to our mental hype. I think we have to learn to manage anticipation and expectation without becoming Debbie Downer. We all know a Debbie Downer, dont' we?

I like to look on the bright side. I want to wear the rose colored glasses, see the glass as something more than half full. I love having something to look forward to and savor the sense of anticipation that comes along with making plans and living life.

Less Eeyore.
More Winnie-the Pooh.

"Well", said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called." A. A. Milne