Go ahead...make my day....

I was working yesterday, making coffee, when the woman I was making coffee for said to me, "You have made my afternoon!".  I knew exactly what she meant.  You run errands, or go to work, or clean at home, promising yourself that at the end of all of that you will reward yourself with something.  Then you look forward to that treat  the entire day.  I know sometimes that is what gets me through my day.  If I have a special coffee drink or something sweet or even treating myself to a nice lunch, it will make all of the work not seem so hard.

It gives you something to look forward to-just for you.  Everyone should treat themselves!

I treated myself today by buying some magazines that I love to read.  It felt good though to have someone else  tell me that I had made their afternoon-that is no small thing.

Lights out...

The power went out today.  I was at work and bam!  Out it went!  I do love the quiet a power outage brings, but it is not good for business.  Which made me wonder-what would happen if all of a sudden we were without power-indefinitely?  People rarely use "real" money to pay for anything-would we barter for things?  It is a pretty scary thought-so I will change the subject to something a little less frightening.  Loosing power and having quiet at home.  This happened a few months back....

It was a weekday, I had gone to run and errand and when I came home, the cul-de-sac looked fairly dark.  It was dusk and so not quiet dark out yet.  I opened the front door and yes, the power was out.  I grabbed my book, lit a few candles, sat at the kitchen table and started to read.  It was nice when my three kiddos joined me.  The outage lasted for around a half an hour and it was lovely.  I must say I was disappointed when the power came back on.  I loved the time though because I could not turn on the T.V., or boot up my computer, or listen to my iPod.  All I could do was sit in the quiet and read.  I could not do laundry, I could not cook, I could not feel guilty about not doing any of these things.  I think I need more time like this.  And I am sure that you do too.

We should not feel guilty about having down time where we sit and relax and do something we love or nothing at all.  It is sad that it takes a power outage to realize this.  Maybe we need more of them.  Although, I am really not up for bartering-yet.

Wrap it up

I have finished Christmas shopping.  I think.  I have just about everything that I have ordered-just waiting on one thing-fingers crossed!  Now, I just have to wrap it.  This really is not my favorite part of the whole Christmas experience.  It means paper cuts, lots of cutting, lots of tape, and the guilt of paper that will be torn and throw away.  I have heard it can not be recycled.  Boo.  Do you feel my pain-let's share!

This is where the Christmas miracle of gift bags comes in.  I always keep the bags I have been given.  I try to make sure not to give those same bags back as wrapping to the person who gave it to me.  But if I do, just think of all the landfill waste we are saving!  Reduce, re-use, recycle!  The green isn't just for mistletoe at Christmas time!

I sometimes think of Candy Spelling, in her bigger than a small country mansion in her gift wrapping room.  Yes, I did just write that-don't adjust your screens or re-read it.  Who wouldn't want to have a room just for gift wrapping at the holidays?  No more sitting on the floor or leaning over a too short table or a bed and breaking your back hoping that you received a massage for a gift to recover from Christmas.  Shew-that was a mouthful.

I have not wrapped one package.  I always say that I will wrap as I go but that has yet to happen.  I will probably do what I always end up doing-wrapping everything on Christmas Eve.  But this year-I may just "bag it".  Literally.

Sister Friends

Growing up, I always wanted sisters.  I have two brothers-they are fine, but there is nothing like having a sister-or so I have heard.  I know there are sisters that do not get along but I am not going to talk about that.  I will focus on the ones that do talk to each other, love each other, support each other.  I always wished for that.  I always was envious of friends who had sisters and were close.  Who did things together, like up at o'dark thirty the morning after Thanksgiving to go shop.  Who went to lunches and movies together.  Who you could call any time of the day with a problem, a success, or nothing at all just to talk.  I thought that would be something I would never find.

And then I had a daughter.  And a few years later, I had another girl.  And along the way many special women have appeared in my life.  It is a glorious thing.  They have blessed my life in so many ways.  I now have more sisters than even I imagined possible.  They bring me joy, make me laugh, listen when I need it.  We support each other and help each other.  Even if it is just by listening and knowing that the support is but a phone call away-or now-a-days an email.

I call these women sister-friends.

Thank you my sister-friends.  You make life that much more beautiful.

The Ghost of Christmas Past...

The other night, I stumbled upon Mickey's Christmas Carol-a classic.  Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchett, Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge and Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of  Christmas Past.  He holds a special place in my heart.  I too played the Ghost of Christmas Past in my seventh grade play.  It was "A Christmas Carol" of course.  I was twelve years old and thought it was the greatest thing in the world.  The auditioning, the practicing, the evening performance for all of our family members and friends, and then performing it for the entire school.  So. Much. Fun.

I had not thought about that time for quite a while.  I remembered trying out for two parts-the ghosts past and yet to come.  I remember being tremendously excited about landing a part-I was sure it would go to someone else.  But, it didn't, it went to me.  I remember wearing a long, white dress-it was probably a night gown of some sort, but was flow-y and fit the part.  I remember glitter in my hair along with a sprig of holy-the dark green of the leaves and the red of the berries.  I remember the excitement of the class as we took the stage for the play we had worked so hard on for so long.

It is almost thirty years later-I have not seen many of the people I was in that play with in a long time.  Everyone has their own lives and have gone in different directions.  One friend has passed away and I remember her warm smile and days in elementary school when we dressed exactly alike.  I wonder if when my former classmates watch "A Christmas Carol"-any version-they have fond memories of the time when we performed the play together.  Ghosts are not always bad things-they can bring back good memories of the past in the present and for future Christmases to come.