The Que Sera Christmas

This post was fresh in my mind over the holiday.  Itching to break free and find life in the interwebs... but, alas, I've been sidetracked by pork dumplings, meatballs, and tree demolition.  And my current guiltiest pleasure... Blacklist.

I'm going to digress here and there as I attempt to reawaken the phrases that kept running through my mind.  Since the poetry escapes me.. I'm going to say it out right.

This was THE most relaxed, non-stressful Christmas I've EVER had.  

EVER.

Since my children and the pressures of grown-up life anyway...

And that, my friends, is a BIG deal.  BIG. 

Even the hubs agreed and said so to others... which means truth.  We had a 4-H party at the house the week before.  Family over for dinner on Christmas.  My modest home had 25 humans in it at one point on Christmas day, and we all fit.  And talked and laughed.  And I didn't start breathing funny or have to wave my hands around my face in our closet to calm myself.  I set no time for dinner.  Jason deep-fried a turkey (which didn't freak me out as much as it normally would have), and we ate when we ate.  And it all worked out.  And it was good.  

We did all the usual things.  But without my usual meltdown. There is always some kind of meltdown.  The Christmas of 2011 will forever hold the place in history as the Christmas of the most epic meltdown.

But somehow, this year was better. The best.  And I failed in many ways.  There are still some lingering cards that need sent.  I never did bake the cookie plates for the neighbors.  They must think we hate them.  We didn't make the grandparents calendars. I had to work over "break", which is new this year and would normally have stressed me to the max.

We started the month out with a fantastic trip to Southern California to visit family and take the kids to Disneyland.  It rocked because we went without a major agenda, focused on the family time, and spent more time exploring LA and museums and trails than searching for theme parks or famous people.  Although, I shamelessly posed in front of Shakira's star on Hollywood Boulevard.
Because, SHAKIRA!

Maybe it was the week off with family free from our usual stressors. Maybe it was our approach to the holiday season. We focused on staying calm and doing what we could do.  I made like a duck and let the things I missed roll off my back instead of getting under my skin and causing grief.  We que sera'd what needed let be and talked to the kids about not expecting as many gifts because of Cali.

This year, like every year, I wanted my kids to really feel the true meaning of Christmas.  I wanted to feel the true meaning of Christmas.  When Grady prayed one night, "Please give us the strength to remember Christmas is not about the presents", my heart melted.

Just before bed on Christmas Eve, we read a few Christmas books, including my favorite Nativity story, "This is the Stable", and when I prayed with the kids that night, I broke down in tears... but the good kind of tears.  The tears just rolled when the enormity of Baby Jesus hit me and I couldn't breathe imagining the heavenly hosts and the reality of birth in a stable.  It's humbling and powerful and indescribable.

And Jason got that look in his eye when he came around the corner and saw me crying for no apparent reason. The PTSD meets "husband who wants to fix things"look.  He got a chuckle out of me trying to explain why baby Jesus and the angels was making me cry happy tears.... but I could tell he was relieved.

This was the best Christmas EVER because somehow we let it be what it was.

Now if I can have that attitude for all of 2016...


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Despicable Shadow Puppets

Image
We watched Despicable Me today.  At the end, when they do the shadow puppets I had an idea.  I remember when I was little that my mom went through this silhouette phase in her artwork and made us kids pose for silhouettes.  I didn't like my own silhouette, even as a child. I also remember loving to do shadow puppets, and the very few times my mom would get out the old projector to show us slides, we would ask to have time with just the light on the sheet so we could play shadow puppets.  So my brilliant idea today, since we use a projector to watch movies instead of having a big, expensive TV taking up space, was to pause on a good spot and let the kids pose.  Here is what we came up with.  Not without a little begging and pleading on my end!  Two bunnies hopping towards a duck   Two ducks quacking at a bunny   Butterfly   Guy with mohawk   First shadow puppet ever...not sure what she is going fo...
Read more

Peanut Butter and Bananas

Growing up, my favorite sandwich in the world (when it came to peanut butter at least), was a peanut butter and brown sugar sandwich.  Crunchy peanut butter made it better.  My best friend's favorite sandwich was peanut butter, banana, and honey. "Gross!" I said. "Gross!" she said.  We both agreed that we wouldn't know until we tried it.  So, one day in her kitchen, we made our favorite sandwiches.  She sliced her bananas as I wrinkled up my nose.  I sprinkled brown sugar as she looked nervously at me from the corner of her eye.  We presented one another with our beloved sandwiches.  We had to try.  To understand one another a little better.  Just one bite... That's all it took.  And we switched right back.  She finished hers, and I finished mine.  Right now, I am sitting on the couch eating a frozen banana with peanut butter drizzled on top.  It is amazing.  Who would have thought that over twent...
Read more

Real Bread. The Second Half.

Image
For the first half of this story, check out this post .  I am following my version of a multigrain bread recipe from Mother Earth News . Whew.  This was way harder than throwing stuff in the bread machine.  So we ended last time with the soakers soaking and the sponges hanging out in the fridge. I took step by step pictures so that I could write less  provide a better visual guideline.  Well, almost step by step.  I couldn't some of the time because my hands were all gooey or had oven mitts or flour on them.  You understand... So, first I took out the sponges and let them get to room temperature.  I matched up my gooier (is that a word?) first sponge with the thicker looking buttermilk soaker.  It took longer than an hour, and I got sidetracked doing other things.  By the time I got around to making bread... they were good and ready. Then, I got everything else I needed out.  Mainly yeast, butter, flour, honey, ...
Read more