It's nearly Christmas, are you ready?

By PrisAKiss

We're halfway through December and I'm only halfway through my Christmas shopping, haven't even started baking, and still have decorations waiting to be put up. Funny thing is, I'm not stressed about it. As usual, my life is hectic. Any Posse member can attest to my tendency to overschedule my calendar. With three busy daughters, I'm always on the go. But, we're usually on the go to somewhere fun. :-)

Yes, I'm looking forward to sleeping in the first day of Christmas vacation, though I doubt I'll sleep late. There are gingerbread houses to make, which means gingerbread scraps to eat. Making our houses is a multi-day event complete with frosting, candies and sweets to sneak. One necco wafer for the roof, one for me. One Andes mint for a window, one for me. You get the picture. :-)

My girls will bicker over whose house looks better. Of course I'll say they all look great (while thinking mine isn't too shabby, either). And my hubby, bless his estrogen-overloaded soul, will escape to his office and the blackhole known as "the internet".

There'll be Christmas music (in Spanish and English) serenading us, while we sing along. We'll have tins of homemade salsa to deliver to friends and neighbors. I'll have a pernil (a pork roast basted Puerto Rican style) ready to go in the oven when we get back from mass on Christmas Eve. There are comfy pjs we'll change into before we watch a Christmas movie. This year it's The Polar Express. We'll say our prayers, think of family we'd love to be with and friends we're thankful to have. This year, since we're staying home in Illinois, my girls will pray for a white Christmas. Me? Being a Florida girl, I'll pray we don't run out of wood pellets for our wood stove, and bless the electric blanket my mother-in-law gifted me with last year. Wise woman, isn't she?

So yes, my life is hectic and we live a frantic pace. Yes, there are tons of things I'd like to get done, or still need to get done. But I'm realizing I can't stress about them. Not over the holidays. This time of year I try to step back and just enjoy the ride. Be thankful for family and friends to have fun with, to love, and to cherish.

There's plenty of time for stress, later. But not before Christmas, not before my birthday (the 28th-- don't even ask how old I'll be) and not before Three King's Day (Jan. 6th), either. We Puerto Ricans/Mexicans know how to draw out a celebratation. Santa comes along with baby Jesus, and then the Three Kings arrive bearing more gifts and festivities. So you see, I don't have time to stress, there's just too much fun and too many memories to make.

Whichever holiday you celebrate, or however you celebrate this season, I hope you do so with gusto! I know I will be! And like every good Posse fan, remember... Be good to yourself, or else!

Hugs,
Pris

posted by Prisakiss @ 12:54 PM