Whenever someone asks me what my favorite part of Christmas is, my answer comes easily.  It’s Christmas cards.  I love to send them and I LOVE to receive them.  I’ve found (over the years) that most people only send cards to people who have sent them one… so I send mine out early and I send out a lot.  300+ this year.  Now sending that many cards requires some team work.   My cards are simple (always photos, no personalization and with address labels) but putting them together still takes some time.  I’ve learned that if I work on them over the weekend, I can usually get a helper or two who will stuff, label or stamp them while sitting in front of the TV watching football on a Sunday afternoon.  So, that’s what we did today.  We did it in small chunks, but we got it done.  Each one of us taking a part in the process.  I really appreciate the help.  It makes me feel good to know that although my schedule has changed dramatically over the last few months, I was still able to keep up with this tradition.  I get by with a little help from my friends.

I like Christmas… I really do.  I have to say that early because I’m afraid any complaining I do right now will be misunderstood as a dislike of the season and that is not the case.  I think some people spend way too much time and energy on the wrong things this time of year, but that’s a choice they make and I’m thankful for the freedom.  As I’ve said over the last few weeks, I’m beginning to understand that I have some pretty serious connections to rituals and traditions that I had not understood before.  I’m going to embrace them.

Decorating is not a do or die thing for me.  One confession I have to make right here… (are you sitting down?)  My least favorite Christmas tradition is the Christmas tree.  I know, I know… that is a sacred cow for most people, but I guess it just never made much sense to me.  Even as a kid, I thought it was odd that people would cut down a tree, light it up, decorate it, worship for 3 weeks and then throw it outside in the gutter for the garbage man to pick up.  I despise the sight of used trees, outside in the street in the weeks following Christmas.  They just look so pathetic.  When I was growing up, my parents always bought live trees and then would plant them in the yard afterward.  That was great, but a little, live tree with a big old pot of dirt was not the prettiest thing to look at in the living room either.

I could have easily done without the decorating this year.  And, it’s not because I’m in a bad mood. (Although, I AM in a bad mood.)  It’s just one more thing on an already, over crammed list of things to do.  When I presented this option this weekend, we all agreed, except for Sierra.  She pointed out the fact that this could quite possibly be our last Christmas in this house and she was willing to do the work.  How can I turn down an offer like that?  We divided the duties (Leroy hauls in the stuff and sets up the tree (artificial), Sierra and Steel put the stuff out… All I had to do was buy the fake snow and replacement bulbs.  We were especially blessed to have my nephew Brandon over this weekend and he was a willing volunteer to help.

I went into work for a couple of hours today.  I left just as the commotion was beginning and when I returned, it was all done.  The house was decorated and the boxes were put away.  It was magical.

The tree is still bare… but that’s another story.  Look for an update in a few days.  That story is a tradition and a blessing every year.

This weekly event is one of those circumstances where it turns out to be so much fun, nobody complains about the work, time and effort.  Each week (usually) we host the football coaches for dinner at our house immediately following the game.  This started last season when we all wanted to go somewhere to eat and unwind, but nothing stayed open that late.  Add to the decision, that the head Varsity coach lives 90 minutes away.  We always try and get him to just stay the night at our house instead of making the long drive home after a game. Combining those two factors… it just made sense to go to our house.

With the new ovens we had installed last fall, it’s a breeze. We usually come up with the menu early in the week.  I set the timers on the food for automatic on and automatic off and dinner is ready when we walk in the door.  We do all of the prep work ahead of time so that there’s nothing to do but sit and enjoy the company… and boy do we do that.

Most of these dinners do not end before 2:00 am.  We never really know how many we’re going to have.  We’ve had as few as 6 and as many as 30.  The table in the living room is a bit tight sometimes, but amazingly, we all seem to fit.  We eat and then we chat… make fun of each other and just generally socialize.  There have been so many memorable moments during these dinners that I have to smile just thinking about it.  There is confession, strategy, re-cap, advice, prediction, feedback, instruction, advice, explanation and some nonsense.   These dinners are definitely up there among my most cherished memories of CCHS football and our kids’ time in high school.

Of course any holiday that has FOOD as it’s focus would be a big hit with me.  I’m a Foodie.  I’m not a great cook, but I’m a fantastic eater and claim it to be one of the greatest joys in my life.  I’ve written before how important “meals” are for me and Thanksgiving puts everyone one the same page.  Unfortunately for some, it is the only time of year when everyone is together, sharing a meal.  We create those opportunities as much as possible (see 11/25 post) and are blessed to have many, many wonderful people around our table all year long.  But the Thanksgiving meal has strong purpose and intention for everyone and so it truly turns into a celebration.

This year is low key for us.  Football practice in the morning (a family tradition for the last several years) is always fun.  It’s nice to connect with our Football Family as well as visit with alumni that come out to watch the practice.  We threw a 24# turkey in the oven.  We set the oven on convection roast and inserted the probe and headed out to Hilmar to Anne’s (Leroy’s sister) home for lunch. We knew we wouldn’t be hungry when we got home, but we figured the bird would take about 4 hours to cook… and by then we might be ready for round two.  Much to our surprise, the turkey was done and the oven had shut off after only 2 1/2 hours of cook time.  Got to love that convection oven, but thank goodness for the probe.  So we wrapped it up to eat later and took a nap.  Leftovers are my favorite anyway…

Leroy has taken over quite a few of my household duties since I’ve started working again.  Most of these are errands and things we would do together and I really miss that, but I do appreciate the fact that he takes care of things for me while I’m at work.  Just one more reason to say, I really don’t know what I’d do without him.

I can’t remember the last time I was in Costco.  Typically, I’d make bi-weekly visits, but it’s been at least 6 weeks since I’ve set foot into the store.  Strange.  Leroy does the majority of the food shopping for me, which I’ve appreciated, but not nearly as much as I do today since it’s the day before Thanksgiving.  All of the necessities are already here, waiting to be assembled into the holiday meal.  It is a GRAND blessing not to be headed to the grocery store to stand in line with all of the other last minute shoppers.

Leroy’s been doing this for a while now.  I don’t know if I mentioned it, but we host dinner for the coaching staff at our house every Friday night following the football games.  Almost everything is prepared ahead of time.  My job is to throw it in the oven set the timer to start cooking about 8:00 and when we get home from the games, everything is hot and ready to serve.   Leroy and I decide on the menu on Tuesday or Wednesday, make a shopping list, he buys all of the stuff and I put it together.  We’re a good team.

I’ve complained a lot about my online internet class since September.  It’s really not that bad… it’s just the timing.  I’ve managed to stay up to date and even ahead of schedule for the most part and now it’s almost over so I’m really glad I stuck with it.

We started a project a couple of weeks ago involving HTML coding.  I don’t learn as easily as I once did so I had a very difficult time grasping the concept.  With the more complicated subject matter, I would do much better in a traditional classroom setting… but I had to persevere.

Today, I got it.  I knew that I had to think of HTML as a different language (because it is) and try to think of the entire concept.  Not only what it was I was trying to say, but what did I want it to sound like (look like) when it was delivered.  All of the steps have to be planned ahead of time… and to be honest… I really like it.  I’m no expert, and I know I’m just at the beginning of the learning but I think it’s fascinating and fun.

You know, I’ve decided that Christmas is kind of a big deal for me.  If you would have asked me 6 months ago, I would have told you the opposite.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Christmas… I’m not anti-Christmas, like some I’ve known… I just didn’t think I was very emotionally tied to the holiday.  But since I’ve been paying attention, I realize that there are some things that are REALLY important to me regarding this holiday.  They are the traditions I have… the rituals I participate in.

A few weeks back I wrote about the Holiday Barbie… and I guess that was when I first started to notice my emotional connection.  I always purchase and give away chocolate Advent calendars too… and that’s been done.  Today… I worked on another ritual/tradition… our annual photo Christmas card.  The cards are always a big deal for me.  We’ve been sending photo cards for 20 years…(before they became popular) and we send out a lot… last year close to 300 cards.  Since I like to be early, I mail them out on the first Monday after the first Sunday of Advent.  In a typical year, I would have our cards designed and printed by mid November… but we all know this year has been anything but typical.  I did manage today to get them designed and approved by the family.  Now all I need to do is order the stamps (another tradition… I insist on using the current Madonna and Child stamp from USPS) print the labels and put them together.  (I’ll get it done while Sierra is home from college to help.)  They may not go out on Monday, but I’m closer to my goal than I thought I would be.

It seems odd to me that these seemingly little things (like the timing, Advent calendars, stamps, etc.) have such significance to me, but they really do.  Maybe it’s part of my control issues… but whatever it is, it’s me and it’s how I celebrate.  It is the traditions that we hold dear in our memories, not the stress or the gifts.

There’s an old saying “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.”  Well… that’s the story of my life.  I have a difficult time seeing things in the present and appreciating the moment while I’m in it.  I’m more of a hindsight kind of girl.  I don’t really appreciate all of the modern conveniences in my life until they’re gone and I have to do without them.  So, today… I’m going to appreciate the fact that my dishwasher is still functioning even though the bottom rack is broken.  The bad news is that I can’t even purchase the replacement part to fix the darn thing… but I did figure out a way to allow it to run in the meantime.  The dishwasher is one kitchen appliance that gets frequent use, so going without it would be a nightmare.  It’s a blessing for today… I just hope it will hold out until we can figure out a long term solution.

I always cause a bit of controversy when I state the fact that I consider my marriage to be my greatest blessing.  Most people question me on this stating that my children should be the greatest, and they run a close second, but if it wasn’t for my marriage I wouldn’t have the children as blessings at all.  My marriage is my primary relationship.  There is no greater gift I can give my children than to love and cherish their father.  As proud as I am of my children, they’ve only turned out as well as they have because of the marriage of their parents.

Leroy and I had been friends in high school but only started dating after he had graduated (my senior year.)  I met him when I was a freshman and he was dating a good friend of mine and from the moment we met, I have to admit I had a crush on him.  Some friends and I made a list of the boys in school we would like to date and he was on my list but we were in very different social circles.  I was a nerd (surprise, surprise) who stayed home most Friday and Saturday nights and he had lots of friends (of both sexes) who kept him busy on the weekends.  He and I were friends, and we used to tease each other about the trash we were currently dating… but that’s where it stayed… at friendship… until one night in October of 1985.  He had come back to school for a meeting and something was different when he stopped to say hello.  It wasn’t love at first sight… we had known each other for 4 years at that point… but this night was different.  Looking back on it now, I realize that the Holy Spirit brought us together that night.  There was a spark between us the moment our eyes met.  I remember it like it was yesterday.

Over the last 22 years we have grown incredibly close. He is my life, my hopes and my dreams.  He is my best friend and my partner in every way.  It reminds me of the Brad Paisley song Then.  I cannot believe how much more I love this man than I did when we were first married or even 12 years ago when I married him the second time.  I got married for lots of reasons… most of which were inappropriate to this kind of decision… but as usual, God was watching out for me even though I had never even considered asking His opinion in the matter.  For 22 years, God has been a part of our marriage even if we didn’t appreciate His presence.  For 22 years I have awaken every morning with the knowledge that I am cherished and cared for and that I am blessed beyond my even my greatest hopes with the love of a good man, whom I adore as well.  As individuals we are not perfect but together, we come pretty darn close.

Oh, how I’ve waited for this day.  You already know I’m a huge fan of the Twilight books… now my thirst (pardon the pun) gets satisfied a bit more with the release of the movies.  Today’s feature was not a disappointment.  I liked it so much better than the Twilight movie.  New Moon is my least favorite book of the series, but this movie is true to the story and for real fans, that makes it all the better.