Monday meanderings

As Christmas gets closer, I find myself missing my Dad and that side of my family. Every Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I feel like a part of me is missing. I am surrounded by family and friends, but still feel alone. There is so much pressure to find just the right gift for everyone. There seems to be so much anticipation, hoping for just the right gift that will bring you happiness.

We will spend Christmas Eve evening at Ernie's grandmother's old house. She is 89 this year. Every year I wonder if it'll be the last Christmas with her. We will do Christmas with Ernie's Dad and stepMom tomorrow night. The kids are so excited about that one. We love having Christmas with them. I miss staying the night over there on Christmas Eve eve, but Ernie has to work Christmas Eve morning to get Thursday and Friday off, so we decided not to stay this year. Then Christmas Day, we will go to my Mom's for a little while.

Joel preached a great message on the reality of Christmas Sunday morning. I am trying to dwell on some of the things he shared and not get so overwhelmed. I think I'm doing better there than in past years.

I came across this quote today by Alexandra Stoddard. "We can never get it all done, nor should we attempt to do it all. I have learned to leave things undone in order to do other things. . .the important thing is to take time to do what you believe are your top priorities. List them in order; you are in charge of your choices."

How fitting is that for this time of the year? It made me feel great about the things that have been left undone. Maybe those aren't the important things. The important things are being there for my family. The kids had an awkward night at Grandma's last night. Annalee wasn't feeling well and learned a hard lesson about how mean kids can be. She was hurt a little by her grandma, also. There was a lot of talking today and time spent with her to reassure her that she did the right thing and we were proud of her. If I was too busy with other things, I might have missed those lessons that she learned today. I am thankful that we have slowed down this month and have focused on our kids.

We are going to try a couple of new things Christmas Day with the kids. I have an absolute favorite memory of something my Daddy did for my brother and me one Christmas morning. Ernie's Dad actually did the same thing for him with his Easter basket. We are going to incorporate it this year and I am so excited about it! It was my best childhood Christmas memory. I hope the kids are able to say the same thing about this year one day. I cannot reveal what it is, yet, because they will read my blog! I think it is going to be the best Christmas ever! We just need to get Bella well before tomorrow night!