Count Down to Christmas

So I thought I would blog about my personal joys of the holiday season. I am notoriously not a Christmas person, I don't enjoy decorating my home, baking or dressing up in reindeer sweatshirts or ornament earrings, but I'm trying to open my spirit to the beauty of the traditions this year. Christmas to me is a visual holiday and I love to watch the world around me decorate and celebrate. Here are my thoughts on what I find joyful about Christmas:

1. The twinkly lights. Love them, well I love the white fairy twinkly lights. The colored ones make my vision blur.


2. The food. I love diving into a seafood feast on Christmas Eve and gorging on fresh shrimp, lobster, crab and other sea delights.


3. Friends. I love reconnecting at parties, sharing a cocktail at festive restaurants in Chicago and just being happy.


4. Spending time with my family. There is something about getting on a plane and flying to my Mom's house where I know she will have the house decorated to the nines with her multiple Christmas trees, pretty towels, holiday dishes and napkins, candles and plates of cookies and candy. Where I lack in the Christmas spirit, my Mom has it in abundance, thank goodness. It's also pretty cool that she has a plastic Santa floating in her pool. I love floating on a raft while drinking a cold beer with water Santa on Christmas Eve.


5. Shopping. Regular readers know I am a shopper and I LOVE to shop for other people. I am a major gift giver and love hunting for special gifts.


6. The quiet. The mornings when you wake up in the Midwest to new snow, before the plows have arrived, before the sidewalks are shoveled, before the dog makes footprints in the backyard. That quiet that only happens after a heavy snow when you can listen to the trees creaking and hear the snow fall off the branches and hit the ground. It's magic.


7. Living in a big city during the holidays. I love the sight of Michigan Avenue, State Street and the ChristkindlMarket in downtown Chicago. The lights, the color, the shop windows, the salt on the streets...It's like a movie come to life.


8. Being a Mom at Christmas. I love the late night wrapping, the stuffing of the stockings and the anticipation of Christmas morning. We still put out carrots and cookies for Santa but now the dog drinks the glass of milk.


9. Forgiveness. I think at this time of year we are more receptive to forgiving past transgressions. At least for a little while.


10. Giving. We give more of our time, our love and our money. I don't count my pennies as much. I stay a little later at work, take on a few more responsibilities. I say thank you with a smile and a hug and just try and remember it's a season about everyone else.
    

Happy Holidays to all of you. May you each find your joys in the season.