The very day after Halloween it was a surreal experience as I watched Christmas come to town. It started with the morning trip to Dunkin' Donuts. I was driving my husband to work, instead of having him take the bus, so we decided to stop for coffee. Our morning pick me up was served in a holiday style cup. At first I thought it was just a winter theme, but then I noticed the reindeer head and wreath. Yes, folks less than 24 hours after I had a porch full of ghouls, we were ushering in the Yule.
After the downtown drop off, I headed to Squirrel Hill for an appointment. I was a little early so I decided to do some window shopping. There was still evidence of fall - with your friendly pumpkin displays and Halloween decorations but there were other things too. Holiday lights were going up on the light poles and some storefronts were already getting their festive window displays in order.
I was feeling, as my cousin, Kelly, would say, all sorts of ways about what was going on. I do not like to rush things and here I was knee deep in Christmas. The holiday, for me, has morphed into something that is almost unmanageable with the gifts and the parties and the baking on top of the regular day to day. You think it would get easier as kids get older but that is not the case. The presents get more pricey and the teens harder to buy for. As the primary holiday shopper, I have longer lists than a Walmart receipt for all the things to get done before Christmas Eve.
Part of the problem for me is that I have turkey brain right now and all I want is a plate of my mom's stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes - yeah, you hear me. Don't even get me started on desserts. I turn into Bubba from Forest Gump but instead of talking shrimp, I'm talking pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, pumpkin roll...etc. We need to let the oven bag breathe and whipped cream run out before Santa steals the show.
But something hit me as I watched two creative ladies put together their window display, last Friday, with a zebra laden with packages near two Christmas trees. The scene was beautiful and it made me happy. By the time I made a second lap, after my appointment was over, the window was almost done. I stood there and took a photo with my phone not noticing one of the ladies still adjusting things on the floor. My photo captures her waving at me.
Since I was busted I felt like I needed to go inside and at least say hi. I told them how much I loved the finished product and how it made me happy to look at it. They said my comments made their day and, after a few minutes of friendly banter, I moved along. It seemed like I was already filled with the holiday spirit and all it took was beauty - appreciating the beauty of the season.
My husband, who always has a wise and simple way of summing up my emotional dilemmas, could not understand why I wasn't ready to give in to the holiday cheer. "It's a beautiful time of year. Just go with it."
Yes, just go with it. But I am not one of those people who have been looking forward to putting trees up since summer. The Hallmark Countdown to Christmas isn't on my radar and I am not one of those people who need their carols 24/7 stat. I am thinking of my to do list, getting it all done while making joy happen - you know, the stress of it all. That's when the snowflakes start to melt and my inner Grinch with the noise, noise, noise starts to manifest.
But maybe this year, I AM going to go with it. Maybe I'll let Christmas wash over me with wild abandon and channel my inner Kristen Kringle and do it up right. Happy Holi-YAY will be my new mantra. So what if I am listening to Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas as I eat my Thanksgiving dinner - is it going to taste any less yummy? What if we put our tree up in November instead of December 1? Will the Pilgrim police stop by? Ho-Ho-NO!
And maybe, by embracing the season instead of individual holidays, I will maximize my time to accomplish must do tasks - like baking and shopping. (This tactic could come in handy with Thanksgiving falling late this year.) So you heard it here first. I am turning over a new holly leaf and who knows, maybe this change of attitude is just what I need to simply have a wonderful Christmastime.
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