Christmas Eve

It is Christmas Eve and I am hanging right in there. In fact, many things I truly enjoyed this holiday season so far. I have wrapped the presents I got for my partner and my daughter. My son's I sent out earlier in the mail.

I baked all the cookies I am going to. Yesterday I went to the store and shopped for Christmas dinner. I enjoyed it a lot. The place was packed. I went to the local Walmart because the selection of things and brands I like are more accessible and affordable in Walmart. (I never shopped at Walmart before I moved..but that is another blog for another day.)

The place was packed with Christmas shoppers and people like me getting things for Christmas dinner. I enjoyed it more than I thought. As I went through the aisles I was so grateful for this time and place I was in that I was able to go Christmas dinner shopping.

This time of year always triggers really uncomfortable feelings in me. This year is a little different. I have had some painful feelings..painful memories come up..but also some happy ones. This year will make peaceful memories for me.

I am grateful for all of the blessings in my life and there are so many. This last year was an unimaginable gift.

I have also spent a lot of time contemplating the Three Magi and of course, the birth of Jesus.
Lately I been thinking about how Joseph must have felt. You know his friends were snickering behind his back when he married an already pregnant Mary. I mean Mary and Joseph both knew the baby was not his..and I am sure everyone else did too.

Something in his heart..in his soul..opened up and his Guidance told him to marry her and love she and the child. Regardless of how it looked or what his peers thought. To do the correct thing even though it looks totally wrong to everyone else. That is the big lesson for me. To discern strongly enough to know the correct choice to make.

And in my mind's eye I can see the Magi, traveling through mountains and deserts to find the One that the star led them to. Did they know each other or did they meet up at a specific point by chance and decide to team up? Were they from the same "Sect" of Priesthood or whatever the name for their persuasion was.


Today I am going to start Christmas dinner. Bake the sweet potatoes, make the slaw, cut up the apples and make spiced apples. I will thaw the shrimp for the shrimp and grits.

tomorrow I will cook the ham, make the sweet potatoe casserole, shrimp and grits, green beans and sweet cornbread.

I am also going to play on farmville. For some reason I enjoyed decorating my little farm. Crazy..but hey..It works. This is going smoother for me than I ever dreamed. I have not just
endured it, I have enjoyed much of it. Later today I will light the Christmas tree up and put on my favorite Carols. I may even light a fire in the fireplace. It's Christmas!


"And so I am offering this simple phrase, to kids from one to ninety two, although it's been said many times and many ways, Merry Christmas to you!"