FINALLY GETTING IT RIGHT

Well, it's all over and done with for another year. It just never ceases to amaze me how you can go from this...

and this...

and this...

to this -- in the mere blink of an eye!

 
From lavish decorations, beautifully set tables, tins filled with home-baked delights and sumptuous meals, to something that more closely resembles a bomb site!

It's funny...well, not really. Perhaps odd would be a better word. OK, it's odd, but I used to start planning for Christmas in August, got really revved up by Halloween, and started getting disappointed that nothing was going as planned shortly after Thanksgiving. Then, by mid-December, I'd be getting depressed about it being almost over with for a whole 'nuther year, when there were still so many things that I hadn't got 'round to doing -- all those picture perfect moments which you see in the magazines and commercials, that we never quite got around to creating.

All that began to change the very first Christmas spent here in our Hill Country house, and I seemed to have mellowed a bit more with each passing year. This year, when we finally crawled into bed on Christmas Eve, I suddenly turned to my hubby and said "Oh my gosh! I totally forgot to get depressed this year!" "That's because you were too busy having fun, creating all your Artsy Ornaments, to even notice that it was almost over with." Not only did I forget to get depressed, I somehow got through it all without making my usual lists and schedules, didn't even start my shopping until after Thanksgiving, and never felt panicked or even close to a meltdown, despite doing Christmas dinner and the baking on my own this year, since both kids were right in the middle of moving and hadn't yet got their kitchens set up.

You see, all those things that I thought I could make happen, if I did everything the magazines told me to do -- like hubby jumping in to help decorate on his own accord, snuggling with me on the sofa to watch Christmas movies, and popping into the kitchen to say"What else can I do to help?" -- never really did until now, and I'm not sure why. Could it be because he's finally completely retired, and free of all the stresses connected to being part owner of his company? Could it have something to do with his recent health scares? Or could it be that the more mellow and relaxed I became about it all -- the more willing I was to let go of perfection -- the more he wanted to participate? Dont know. Don't care. All I know is, I finally got it right this time, and I'm sending up some serious prayers of gratitude!