December 26, 2016CoachVickyLeave a comment
Richard and I have yet to celebrate Christmas with finishing the decorating the tree, opening cards, Christmas Eve and Day dinners, and our other rituals.
Why? We picked up a nasty crud bug. I think I am on the mend because I started an antibiotic last week. Richard got out of bed this morning and finally ate something. This was a first for him in over two days.
We took the stress out of Christmas years ago. We start our Christmas movie watching with Planes, Trains and Automobiles on Thanksgiving Day. We store our regular stoneware and unpack the Spode and all our Christmas plates, cups, and serving dishes by the first week of December. We do some decorating in mid December but we save getting the live tree until 23 December. We usually decorate the tree on 24 December. We celebrate Christmas through the 12 days following Christmas Day until the Feast of the Epiphany. Christmas Eve is always a fish meal.
As for gift giving, we work to listen for what people want all year long and shop a little every month. This way, there is no rushing out to a store or online to find “something” the recipient may or may not like, and we are not confronted with large bills at the end of the year.
I was looking forward to all of our rituals as well as the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services at Good Shepherd Methodist Church.
As for our dinners, I have a new gumbo recipe that we will most likely have tonight. Scott prepared an all day green bean, fresh garlic, and tons of bacon crock-pot dish the night we all had dinner in Kansas with the Scanlon Family. I may make that dish when we finally have Christmas dinner.
Despite missing some rituals and delaying others, this has been a WONDERFUL Christmas!
When we received the original cancer diagnosis June and the follow on cancer diagnosis in July, I did not know how many days much less Christmases I had left on the planet. So, to be here and cancer free is such a blessing. Every day is precious.
I understand the tendency to be recognized as a “cancer survivor.” I want to be a “thriver” not a mere “survivor”.
Leaders … are you living your lives with gratitude and recognizing the blessings of each day? I pray so. Otherwise, you merely exist.
-VhS