December May be Magic, Afterall

I'm not the world's biggest fan of December. Given a chance to rank all twelve months of the year, December would likely fall close to or at the end. From where I stand, it seems like the month of December nearly DEMANDS that all persons great and small cough up every measure of sentimentality that could ever be imagined, and vomit it out within the confines of four hustle-bustle, run your ass off, never sleep, try to meet unreasonable expectations, martha-stewart-marathoning weeks.

It's not me.

I like to give, that is not the issue. I like to craft. I like to bake. I am thrilled when I stumble across something that I know a loved one would enjoy.

But in much the same way as HAVING to make dinner takes a lot of the fun out of cooking,  the holidays make December slightly less appealing...  From a distance.

And then, each year, we stumble into the month, bellies still stuffed and ovens still smelling of Thanksgiving. Starry-eyed, we wrestle a string or two of lights, check out list twice, and hope we did OK by those we love.

This year, the stress is heightened because our house is under construction, rooms are congested by closet contents. The work we had planned for completion before November began, is terrifyingly close to NOT being completed before the close of the year. The boys are not sleeping because drilling has been going on, seven days a week. And we are all just a little off our game.

In any other month, we could mask our frazzled selves a little better, but December is not always so sweet.

STILL, this year, like every year, somewhere between December one and January two, however, magic always seems to slip in.

For 2013, the magic struck just last weekend. At a much anticipated shower for our dear friends, I saw tables of women, gathered, giggling, celebrating, and sharing. I was able to share hugs with a very dear friend. I had time to visit with my Mother. I slowed down enough to cuddle just a little longer with my boys. Amid all of this, as luck would have it, we had a marvelous snow hit our area. Perfect snow-globe flakes fluttered around for about 24hours. Magic was definitely here!

Adding to the wonder of the weekend, we headed out for our Christmas tree. The boys were fussy, the tree was a rip off (but you never find that out, somehow until it is already cut, wrapped and strapped to the top of your vehicle) , parking lot congested and magic was tested. But we returned home, enjoyed some cocoa, naps and recovery.

Tonight we decorated our tree, took silly pictures together, and watched Frosty. I'm in love... With our family, our construction-riddled crazy home, our blurring chapter of life, and again with the holiday season.

Thank you, Kate and Steve for including us in your magic! Clearly it is contagious ;)