On Recognizing Love in the Supermarket...

Today I was doing my grocery shopping. Sometimes I make this slightly mundane task more enjoyable by plugging myself into my ipod. Today was such a day.
As I cruised through the produce, "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars came on. Have you ever listened to the words of this song? I was lost in it. And I found myself in tears with this amazing realization that this is how my husband feels about me. You should try it sometime... dedicating a song to yourself from your husband. It's quite a feeling! I blamed the tears on the onions, but at the end of the day, I knew there was nothing on earth I would rather have than the man who thinks I'm amazing just the way I am. I didn't even mind crying in the supermarket, because I was overwhelmed at the thought of how much he loves me! I'm not perfect, but he's decided to love me anyway. And in spite of my imperfections, he looks at me with adoration. I'm a lucky woman.

Season's Greetings!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

from

our family

to yours!!

Happy Anniversary

Here's to the fantastic years already behind us, and the good and bad to come as well. Hopefully more good than bad, but I'm sticking around for all of it.
I am so lucky to be married to you... I love you.

Can A Sista Get A Silent Night?

'Tis the season, right? I try really super hard to not overschedule our family. Still, I feel a teense overwhelmed. There are several things that seem to demand our time and attention. The top three are:

1. Requests for donations.


Here is what we've been asked for lately, and I'm not making up one bit of this:

• juice and cookies for a class party


• candy for a class gingerbread decorating activity


• soup for a church activity


• gently used coats for a coat drive


• new toys for a toy drive


• canned food for the food drive for all 3 of my kids' schools


• hats and mittens for the giving tree


• fabric for quilts for the women's shelter


• money for the Salvation Army kettle EVERY TIME we go to the store
  
• gently used clothing for the homeless shelter
• turkeys, hygiene items, sleeping bags and instant mashed potatoes for "A Home For Christmas"

2. Activities. I'm sure you all know the drill:


One Million Christmas parties, school concerts and plays, and regularly scheduled extra-curricular activities.

3. The Christmas thing.

• Trying to ensure that everyone has an equal amount of presents while staying within my budget.


• Finding the right sales at the right times to meet the aforementioned goal.


• Making sure we don't spoil our kids, but don't short-change them at the same time.


• Christmas cards.


• Debating if we want to invite people for Christmas dinner, or try to get ourselves invited somewhere.


• Oh, somewhere in all of this, reminding everyone that it's actually about Jesus, not Santa.

I feel frustrated that in spite of the fact that people have needs year-round, we are bombarded during the month of December with requests for assistance. The guilt from Toys for Tots: "This may be the only present little Johnny receives this Christmas." I am more than happy to help out all year round, if I could just get December off. I want to find the balance between serving others and spreading myself too thin. I want to figure out how to teach my children about generosity and kindness without screaming "I SAID I DON'T HAVE ANY CHANGE ON ME FOR THE STUPID KETTLE!" A wise person would suggest we select only one cause, and focus our time and effort on that. And a wiser person would agree and follow suit. But let's take my kids' classroom. I thought "I donate items to every activity. I volunteer three times a week with the teaching. I'm skipping the gingerbread man donations." Then came the email from the teacher: "I have not received a single donation for the gingerbread man activity! Please poke around your pantries and see what you may have." My own fault, I suppose, for allowing it to become my problem at that point. But I did. I couldn't NOT help out.

Anyway. I love Christmas, I love the kindness it brings out in people. I just really wish we could spread it out more evenly across the other 11 months. I want to feel like I've purchased nice gifts for my children that don't leave me financially drained, or them feeling either disappointed or spoiled. Tips? Suggestions? What works for you in the midst of the chaos?