Christmas 2013

It is 5:22am on Christmas morning and I have already been up, set the house ablaze with candles, made coffee (VIA - modern day Sanka), read email which included the balance on the ski vacation reminder (really ON CHRISTMAS - seriously, those Canadians are cold! hehe), and now I am 'talking' to you.  The last couple weeks have been, well, interesting.  My last post included the passing of Shelly.  That will reset your perspective and after attending an amazingly beautiful, heartfelt, and true representation of an incredible woman, life's "busyness" just does not matter anymore.  I even laughed in a friends face when she told me in horror that her tree died on the stand after only three weeks and that she spends eight hours on lights alone every year.  The company she bought the tree from was horrified (have I used that enough??!), replaced the tree with any on the lot, gave her a poinsettia on the way out the door, and was SOOOOOOO sorry that it happened.  She was sincerely mad at me for laughing.  I was like, "Someday you will laugh about that this and, quite frankly, eight hours?!?!?!?  I take maybe, if timed, three minutes.  You chose to take eight hours and did you think that might be why the tree died?"  She was not amused in the least.  She will forgive me someday.  She has to - we are in Bible Study together!  ;)  

Christmas came together, BUT I did hit the anger stage of grief.  Unfortunately for my Mom, I was driving her and I to "Oliver" downtown.  Those poor people.  I honked at stupid lost people that were looking around more than driving a 5000 vehicle.  I cut people off from cutting to the end of the lane before the exit saying, "Okay, you have been warned of this for 3 miles and now you are getting over?!?!?!?  Hit me!  Your car is WAY better than mine!  Yeah, I thought so."  My Mom meekly asked, "You okay? You seem a little tightly strung?" while she squinted her eyes like, "Don't hurt me, please don't hurt me."  I answered with, "People think their lives are SOOO important and they are not, they are rude and fighting for position for what?!??!  And then really good people die....."  As we pulled into the parking stall, I cried.  I am okay now, but if you are stupid or shallow don't cross paths with me.  Consider yourselves warned.  Merry Christmas!  

As for the boys, I have gotten really good at hiding gifts and, like I always do on December 23rd, I was worried a bit that we did not get them enough. Would it be a Christmas to remember?  When I was little, I remembered Christmas morning to be a roaring fire in the fireplace and my Dad waking me up because HE was so excited.  I remember the Teddy Bear Christmas and the Bike Christmas.  I do not remember the Christmas I did not get enough, I remember two presents.  Two in 44 years.  That's enough.

Gotta go....I hear scurrying......

May you have a beautiful Christmas and may everyday of your life represent the best of you and yours, Ang