Tis the season

It's no secret that this time of year is hectic.  We are all busy, running errands, buying gifts, mailing cards and packages, all on top of the everyday stuff like work, school, chores, etc.   All craziness aside, I adore Christmas.  I love everything about it:  watching the holiday tv specials, decorating, the challenge of finding JUST the right gift for someone, listening to Christmas music.  If I could start celebrating Christmas in September I would, but Hubby refuses to acknowledge anything about this time of year until Thanksgiving at the earliest.

I don't really have any rhyme or reason to my thoughts for this post, so I'm just going to write down some random musings and you can make of them what you will.

I am OCD enough to keep track of gifts on a spreadsheet so I know exactly who I have to buy for and how much I spend. 

I still do Christmas cards the old fashioned way - using actual cards with either a photo or a Christmas letter inside, not just a printed photo card. 

Thanks to my daughter's prompting, I started listening to Christmas music weeks before Thankgiving. 

Much to Hubby's dismay, I insist on putting up a real tree every year.  Even though I no longer live in an area where we can go and cut down our own tree like we did when I was a kid (what fun times those were!), to me there is nothing like walking through the trees until you find just the right one.  The smell of a fresh cut tree is so "Christmas-y" that they now sell ornaments that are scented like real pine or fir trees.  Why not just get the real thing, that's my question!

I am one of the few people who actually likes wrapping presents.

My sister-in-law is undergoing treatment for breast cancer and she is facing it with such strength and humor.  I told her tonight that she is my hero.  Thanks to chemo, she started losing her hair this week.  Instead of a 'woe is me' cry fest, she not only smiled the entire time her nephew shaved her head, she posted pictures on Facebook of her before, during (loved the mohawk!) and after, along with her new hairdo (a wig that looks GREAT).  Good for you, S!

Putting aside the feel-goodness of this time of year, I want to mention that my thoughts and prayers go out to a certain family I know.  Their lives were turned upside down this week, right before Christmas, and as a mom, my heart hurts for them as I know they are hurting.  I pray that God gives them hope and strength and that the spirit of Christmas touches them even a little bit.