It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

It  can be anyway....I believe this time of year is like that obnoxious friend we all have...you know, the one your other friends either love or hate.  The "holiday season" is like that.  It's a tough pill to swallow for some and a series of magical moments for others.  From November to January, the madness or the magic begins.  It starts with the thought of Thanksgiving turkey and the busiest days of travel and ends with the new year as we attempt to immerse ourselves in the newness or at least the beginning of the cycle... for better or worse.  It's a busy and full time (they're not necessarily the same).  You know, the time with family, the obligatory office parties that not only require your presence but also a covered dish, the holiday music (which I happen to really enjoy by the way), the elves (you know as in Santa....where's your inner child????) the shopping and of course the Christmas pageants or retold stories of the birth of Jesus.  It can be a very difficult time, too.  You know, the time with family, the obligatory office parties....you see where that's going.  I've found it to be a little bit of both joy and pain.  It's exciting because it's Grace's first Christmas. YAY!  We've been reading "'Twas the night before Christmas" to her.  She's actually pointing to the Christmas tree when the lights come on, and she survived her first holiday party this week.  Yes, she is a bit young to "get it", but she smiles and points to the lights and that lights up my heart with ease.  We talk about the birth of Jesus and she listens with anticipation.  Joy to the world...!
I also suffer a bit of sadness each holiday season.  Mom died on the 18th of December a decade ago, and there are memories of Christmas' of old that are bitter sweet.  We still have a pajama party on Christmas Eve.  We all get new pajamas.  Like I said, it's bitter sweet.  And of course, she and daddy are together this year which makes it just a little sadder for the rest of the family.  But, we are getting together here in South Carolina.  Dale, Grace and I are looking forward to being the host family.  The Wesson holiday season opener was in Virginia with Dale's family.  Grace's first Thanksgiving...I know...enough with the whole "Grace's first....", but she's only 11months and she's full of firsts.  Anyhoo, the holidays find us all over the place as is evident in this blog entry.  The presence or absence of the holiday spirit is evident in our lives.  Our friends and family pretty much know where we stand on the issue and they don't bother us to change.  So, as difficult  or easy as it is, this may be just the 4th quarter of 2010 with no bells and whistles and no expectations from 2011....or it could be a "really wonderful time" (if the "most wonderful time" is too far reaching) of the year...and there's still time to decide.