Now

Using my friend’s example at Thanksgiving to remain calm and in the now, I managed to stay there most of yesterday.  There was a short panic trying to get all the food to the table and a few minutes of feeling overwhelmed by the quantity of people in my my place.  It was nice and instead of my usual ‘why do I do this?’ feeling, I knew why and embraced the fact that this is a gift to my friends, a sign of appreciation that they are part of my life and good people who like one another and have a good time, with good food for the holiday.

RSVP

Every year I complain about people not getting back to me with RSVPs. This year 2/3 of the invited have RSVPed before the deadline. Has the financial crisis or the election of Obama turned us into nicer, kinder people? Instead of getting mad because I don’t know who will be here (for food prep), now I’m a little freaking out about how many people will be here. It always works out and it will again this year (right?). I still have Christmas shopping to do, things to be mailed and lots of cooking, baking, cleaning and decorating to do. Trying to remain calm and remember that this is all about love, family and friendships in the midst of the darkness this time of year brings.

Bail Out

Spent the morning fretting about whether or not I should offer my daughter a bail out, so she can fly home for Christmas. On the one hand, it was her decision to move so far away to make more money than I do and on the other hand, she’ll be lonely on Christmas and I don’t want that either. Mothering is tough some time – tough love or spending money I shouldn’t for love.