Happiness

I think I'm in good company when I say that although they were blessed, warm and wonderful (despite my sick son), I am glad the holidays are over.

Tomorrow I will pack all my Christmas plates, with a new addition this year thanks to McRae, most of the decorations and the Christmas cds away into their respective tote boxes where they will live in the crawl space under the house until next year.

Our tree will remain up until January 1st, as it has become our unofficial "tradition". Did you hear that honey? It's a tradition!

And then each ornament will find itself wrapped and nestled in it's own compartment in a very useful red and green storage bin. The lights will be taken off in the most orderly way possible, to make re-stringing them next year a breeze (it doesn't hurt to try, does it?) and then the tree will wait until the day it is picked up and recycled into (hopefully) some very good mulch.

And a new year will begin.

I am not one to make resolutions, as I find that the pressure to keep them is too great.

But I always find the new year to be a time of reflection and inspiration.

Looking back on these very busy two weeks, looking past all the food prepared, the parties scheduled, the gifts purchased and wrapped. Looking past the children bribed to be on their best behavior, cookies bakes and delivered, the clothes laundered, the floors swept and the toilets scrubbed, there is something far more important than any of that.

Something called family.

It doesn't matter if you got the best gift, if your house looked like the holiday issue of Martha Stewart (although that would be nice) , or even if your kids were little cherubs.

It doesn't matter if it rained, or snowed or the wind blew.

It doesn't matter if you had a pimple on your chin that defied any "treatment" you gave it.

Did you have family?

Did you make something sweet?

Did you have warmth?

Did you have laughter?


Did you find time to dance?



Did you have health and happiness amidst the chaos of the holidays?


My sister-in-law said it best when she said "I've wanted to take a nap for five days."


Now that I've done that (taken the nap - yesterday thankyouverymuch!), I can honestly say that this holiday, with it's changes in routine, breaking of hips and subsequent recovery (Go, Grandma, Go!), illnesses, drawn out commitments and getting the very last gift handed out only today, this holiday, has been glorious.


And I have my family to thank for that.


Thank you. All of you.