Stop and Smell the Eggnog

Our Christmas tree is up. It has lights, some ribbon streamers, and a sparkly topper, but no ornaments as of yet. We're planning to decorate it tonight, with some Christmas music and a little sparkling apple cider. It happens to be the same night the tree is being lit in Rockefeller Center in New York City, so I'm patting myself on the back for being so timely and punctual. After all, nobody does Christmas like New York, so I'm happy to be co-decorating with them this evening, so to speak.

Some of you, however, just have to get ahead of the curve. Our Thanksgiving dishes were still soaking when I started seeing pictures of Christmas decorations, entirely finished and already brightly shining. My next door neighbors put up their decorations the day after Halloween--although they also hoard cats, rarely cut their grass, and store all kinds of trash on the side of their house, so maybe let's not take a page from their playbook, mmkay?

I saw a gorgeous picture Monday on Instagram of a friend's gifts, all beautifully and ornately wrapped. She's done with her shopping and now she's completely finished with her gift wrapping, too. Heck, I thought I was ahead of the game because I bought two gifts on Cyber Monday...and one of them was for myself. (Side note: years ago, I did all my Christmas shopping throughout the year rather than waiting until December, and wound up overspending by about $87,000 because I kept adding new gifts to everyone's cache. Never again.) My preacher sent out a timely text this week reminding all of us that Jesus wasn't born so we could overspend all month and work ourselves into a fitful yuletide frenzy; he's absolutely right and yet I still have to resist the urge to panic at everything there is to do and how much everyone else seems to have already done.

For whatever reason, practically every decoration or adornment we pulled out of storage has managed to become broken/mangled/inoperable over the last year, so our decorating is taking even more time and patience this season. I'm headed to Hobby Lobby this afternoon with a list approximately as long as the Dead Sea scrolls to restock our holiday arsenal and hopefully put the final festive touches on all our trimmings around here. Naturally, I have about a zillion other things to do, but that won't get better as the month progresses. Looking at my calendar for next week, I discovered we have one vet appointment, a dentist appointment, a Christmas concert, two parties, and a partridge in a pear tree...and in the midst of all this, I still have a husband and a dog who expect to be fed, watered, and cared for, as well. It's a shame Santa can't come early and bring us all a few extra hours in each December day.

A friend, whom I always consider to be on top of her game, sent me this yesterday. Not only did it give me a much needed belly laugh, the sentiment gave me much comfort in thinking that I'm not alone noticing all the Christmas overachievers that are running rampant right now:

Has life gotten so crazy that we can't relax and take it one holiday at a time? It's beyond exhausting trying to keep up with the seasonal Joneses. I'm going to take pride in the fact that my Christmas cards have been ordered (although not addressed, stamped, or sent), a handful of gifts have been procured, and a smattering of lights, garland, and trinkets are on display. We're not there yet, but I'm sure we will be. We still have a month, after all, so I'm pacing myself. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

It's the most wonderful time of the year, but it's also one of the most hectic and stressful. Let's all take a deep breath, and may I suggest taking a little time to stop and smell the eggnog. Bonus points for adding a splash of bourbon to yours and taking a giant sip.