December 17 And It Is A Great Day......

I want to begin by saying thank you so much for all of your encouraging comments, advice and hugs. Thank you for reminding me that every season has a purpose and is valid and that I won't always feel the way I do. It has meant a lot to me as I begin each day.

With Christmas in the air I have been jumping and hopping, often with nothing to show for it but feeling tired at the end of the day all the same. I have been baking like crazy and did something like 20 dozen chocolate chip toffee cookies just yesterday (while assembling bedroom furniture with Pippin at the same time). Aside from our newly placed Christmas tree though, that is all I have to show for it at this moment. I haven't done a stitch of shopping yet and though I am always most definitely done by now, I don't feel bothered at all.

There have been parties to attend, extra work hours for Pippin and then with Puddin in the advanced choirs this year there has been many beautiful and talented performances. Girlfriends have been spending most every night as the last of the school work gets finished and the winter break begins. The daily things have still beckoned for attention as well with chores and errands. Even crisis have crept up as (maybe to be written about at a later date) I have been counseling with a parent and his teen daughter on things she was scared to confess to him and how to move forward from here.

Today is a special day. It is the day that Mom and I celebrate our birthdays. How cool is that? Nope, she never planned it that way. It just happens that I was her birthday present 40 years ago. Yeah....40 years. I have never been one for giving the faintest bit of attention to numbers and age. But this one has a little bit of change in it for me. It just feels vaguely strange.

In a couple of hours I get to go spend the day with my mom. It is our special time together and we look forward to it every year. We only live 15 minutes apart and see each other weekly. But our birthday is the only time that we can go do something for a bit of time without others saying, "hey whatcha doing? That sounds fun. Can I come too?"
I try to surprise her every year with a new lunch destination and she makes a game out of trying to figure it all out before we get there. I have learned to not tell a soul my plans because she can be wonderfully crafty and good hearted at extracting information. It is funny.

I would tell you where we are going today but since I am so very much like my mom, I am a bit too quick for that. As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Mom you won't find out here. You will just have to wait a couple more hours. wink wink

Have a blessed and wonderfully amazing day today.