Christmas: Merry & Bright

Why is there such stress around Christmas? Yes, I understand all the presents to buy, the money spent, preparing the house for guests, and the family conflicts. But, why does it have to be that way? Is this Satan’s way of changing our focus from the true reason for Christmas? Is he scrambling our minds with worry and anxiety so we will be too busy to recognize why we celebrate Christmas to begin with? Why do we give each other presents? Shouldn’t we be giving the church or charities the presents? Instead, the people with an abundance of money give each other a present for having a good year, or worse, trying to one-up each other. The lower income people scrape by and sometimes charge themselves deeper into debt just to buy a few presents so their kids won’t be disappointed. Companies take advantage of the gift giving by giving their clients presents (incentives) to stay with them through the next year. They use Christmas as a type of marketing/sales ploy to get more money in their pockets. I think we should do away with the presents-I hope my parents don’t read this though. ;-) But, truthfully, some re-evaluation needs to be done with this whole present deal. This year, I have cut way down. I have only bought gifts for the children of our closest friends and family, our parents and grandparents. As for Christmas cards, we sent a third of what we did last year. I thought I’d feel guilty for not buying so many presents or sending so many cards, but I truly feel less anxious. As for the family gatherings, it’s too early to tell!
Moving on from the complaining!
I thought I’d note some of my favorite things about Christmas:

The excitement of waking up knowing it’s finally Christmas day
The memories of Christmas past when all my grandparents were alive
The memories of no family drama…when everyone just held it in (ha ha!)
The relief that I get when the holidays are over and I have actually survived them
The smell of the fireplace and the meal to come
The sight of all the nicely wrapped presents under the tree
The pretty table setting and decorations throughout the house
The time with family and friends
The excitement of opening the gifts
The anxiousness of wondering if anyone will like the gift you’re giving…then they actually do!
I also have to note (because people have been posting this question on face book all week) my most favorite Christmas present of all time:

I was maybe 8 or 9 and the Miss Piggy dolls were very popular. They were plastic with fake blonde hair you could brush and she wore a sparkling pink dress. I first laid eyes on her at Winn’s (they no longer exist). I begged for her for months. The thing was that it was the 80’s and the oil crisis hit. My dad was out of a job, but a kid doesn’t understand any of that. Christmas morning came and I opened my gifts looking for the Miss Piggy doll. I found her…kind of. My mom had hand-made me one. It looked nothing like the one in the store. At first I was disappointed because mine looked nothing like any of my friends dolls. But, within the days following I grew to love her the same, if not more than the store bought doll. She was made of a soft material, wore a pretty pink dress with ruffles, had blonde hair made of yarn, and big eyes with fake eyelashes glued on. This Miss Piggy became one of my favorite dolls. I’m sure if I had the store bought doll, she would have already been given away and discarded. But, the hand-made Miss Piggy that my mom tried to work on for so long without me finding it (which was hard) is still with me. I cherish her and will keep her all of my days. There was no love in the store bought version, but there was in the hand-made one!

In closing, I wish everyone a merry Christmas! And, always remember the wonderful memories of Christmas past and stop all the stressing and take time to cherish this Christmas!

Weekend Update:

Hello all! Today is Friday...yea...only 45 more minutes before I can go home after a hectic week! Here's the short version of the events this week...stressful! I had gone to the doctor last week to get my blood tested as a routine deal for a couple of the meds I take. I got a call from the nurse Monday at 11:30 saying that the doctor needed me to come in for more labs as soon as possible. That is always the LAST thing anyone ever wants to hear! She scheduled me to come in directly after their office reopens after lunch (I have never been able to get in that quickly). Once there, I'm in a room with 4 people waiting...they call me first even though I was the last to arrive. That caused my worrying to skyrocket! My blood was taken and the doctor came in to discuss the results of the last test. He was concerned with my liver...the enzyme count was not good! He scheduled me for the first ultrasound of the following day at the hospital. So, after a horrible night and next day (Tuesday) of worrying, they call with the blood results by 3:00 on Tuesday. I have never had results come in that fast! It turns out I do have an issue with my liver...but, it's not a viral hepatitis like my doctor was concerned with! It seems that, once again, my past is catching up with me! Due to my horrible eating habits and lack of exercise, mixed with my bout with alcoholism from years ago...my liver is screaming that it can no longer take any more abuse. So, all those years of thinking that I will worry about "it" later, and the years of feeling invincible, I have now realized why my parents were always griping.


Though, I am truly blessed that I have a chance to better my habits and stop any more damage from being done to my liver. The damage with the alcohol and the past is done, but I can stop any progression. I don't like having an issue with my liver, but I'm almost relieved that I have an explanation for the past 7 months of feeling exhausted, nauseous, and just plain sick. So, since I was out a day and a half from work, the remainder of the week has been chaos! But, in 30 more minutes I will be FREE! I love that Friday afternoon feeling of leaving work. The second I step foot outside the office doors, it's like the world turns into the scene in Bambi...animals frolicking about, flowers in full bloom, a nice tune in the air, and pure happiness and freedom! Although, once in the car I begin to list in my head all the chores and errands I must accomplish before Monday. But, still I have at least 5 minutes of pure bliss!
BTW, this weekend I have planned to craft my butt off!  I need to finish the Christmas gift baskets and frames & I will also be working on my ball tree (that sounds like I'm a man-hater)!  Ha ha!  But, it can be found on my sister's blog...Frou Frou Frilly (link to the right).