My gift

This has been a tough year. I'll admit, I'm really not in the holiday spirit, whatever that means these days. Our family experienced loss, transition, changes. Our Christmas Day gathering will be small, and loved ones will be missed.

Besides our family changes, my own life has been hectic. Crazy. Tiring. Work, managing the girls' schedules, managing my own. Trying to find time to spend with friends, keep in touch, not lose track. Thank goodness for Facebook and text, for those who have adopted 21st century technology. For those who haven't (and you know who you are), I'm trying. But time seems to just rush by ...

I'm looking around the house today. The dining room is stacked with items for tomorrow's dinner. My office is stuffed with shopping bags, random shoes scattered on the floor, clothes piled up, boxes of paper to still be sorted. I didn't finish the work I wanted to before the holiday. I was up and out of the house by 7:15 this morning, to finish the gift shopping I couldn't get done before today.

It took us a week to get our tree up and decorated. I would like for the girls to have better memories of our holidays, instead of our random approach to things. I envy those families with their set traditions, things that they can count on. We've had a few years where our holidays were more predictable, but times are changing.

So as I was driving home from the mall this morning (the early bird gets the parking spaces and misses the crowds, by the way), I decided that the best gift I could give myself this year was this:

Accept the imperfection.

I'm not Martha Stewart. Our holidays are messy.
Did we get the tree up? Yes.
Are we baking cookies today? Yes.
Will the girls be surprised and happy on Christmas morning? Yes.

The rest really doesn't matter.

~Merry Christmas ~

~ Peace and Joy ~

Random Acts

I've been involved with music all my life. It's what lights me up, keeps me going during the day, makes me smile, makes me cry, but always fulfills me no matter what is happening in my life. I've sung with The Hartford Chorale for almost 20 years, and my favorite performances have been when we've done Handel's Messiah over the holidays. Rehearsals always leave me energized and humming the music, even the more somber pieces.

I participated in my 13th performance of Messiah this past weekend. Performing with an orchestra, 160+ voices strong, to a warm and grateful audience is enough to make my holiday season.

But I think I've topped that experience. Today, I was a part of a huge flash mob performance of the Hallelujah Chorus at our local mall. A large crowd gathered at 3:00 pm, and with the flourish of a trumpet, we were off, raising our voices to a surprised and appreciative audience. So, without further ado, I give you the Hallelujah Chorus, flash mob style:

Horses, riding, and other reasons why I need to stretch

As you know, I started riding lessons about 18 months ago. I went from a timid rider who barely posted to a trot, to now cantering on my favorite polo pony Frederica, who I will be leasing over the holidays. Riding has given me a new confidence. I haven't fallen yet, but I'm sure I'm due. As they say, it takes three falls to be a true rider. I guess I'm not even close.

I ride twice a week, for an hour on Wednesdays and a half hour on Fridays. All that riding has given me a strong legs but I'm usually sore for a couple of days afterwards. I'd just sit on the couch, say "ow ow ow" when I tried to walk, but otherwise wouldn't do anything about it.

Then a good friend of mine, after hearing me whine about my sore muscles for the hundredth time, finally said: "Why don't you stretch?"

Hmm. Why don't I stretch? I didn't even think of that. So I started slowly. I couldn't believe how much flexibility I'd lost over the last few months. But as I began to regain my flexibility, I realized how much less sore I was after each lesson. Less soreness, less whining. Win win for everyone.

Stretching. Who knew?

Oh, and the ribbons and trophy above? I won those in October - a first, a second, and class champion. After my performance last year, I never expected to do so well.

And yes, I stretched afterwards. Ahhhh.