Christmas Day

(My favorite Christmas song, because it was my grandma’s,
“I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”)

It is nearly 4 p.m. on Christmas Day. The pugs and I have had a peaceful, quiet day here, my darling daughter Rachel came by for a couple of hours and she is now at home cooking and preparing for the family to arrive, my eldest daughter and her family are being delayed for hours and who knows when they’ll get in tonight, we are all just letting the plans shapeshift as they will to fit the hours ahead, and we will all be so glad to see one another once we are all together. I have 6 turkey legs roasting in the over for my keto meals over the next few days, I will take one for my dinner tonight at Rachel’s house. She is making green beans and my ex is bringing a salad so I’ll be all set. I am not in the least worried about being keto on Christmas nor am I tempted to eat or drink things that are not on my plan, this is just my life now and it feels good to me. I will feed the pugs their dinner between 5 and 5:30 and then head over to Rachel’s. It has been a lovely day. And I have been giving hugs on Facebook for those who needed a hug today. I would like to offer you a gentle hug, especially if you are feeling alone and lonely today, if you are I am holding you especially close in my heart. If you are celebrating with family and friends and having a fine time I am sending you a hug too. We can all always use a hug! You can slip it in your back pocket or pocketbook to pull out on a day when you need it.

I am savoring this moment and taking a Polaroid of it in my mind. A Polaroid that captures the five senses! The smell of turkey baking in the oven, the lovely colorful lights on the Christmas tree tinkling, and my little space heater running here next to me because the studio is always cold and since I practically live in this one room I surely don’t want to heat the whole house just to try to warm this one room! I have been watching a great many birds coming to the feeders and have gone out twice to put more food out for the squirrels, I love them too. And the pugs and I just went out for a few minutes. The temperatures here have dropped down to the 40’s now and will be dropping down into the 30’s for the rest of the week which is chilly for us but it’s nice because even though we don’t have a white Christmas it feels like Christmas. I will hold this moment in my heart forever.

I hope wherever you are in the world you have had a lovely Christmas, even if you are by yourself, and if you are in the midst of a big family gathering have an eggnog for me, will you? I am listening to a song I love just now, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” which is both poignant for me, makes me a little sad and lost in memories, but also joyful. Christmas is a day to feel it all, and to celebrate being alive. I have never felt more fully alive. I am woman, mother, grandmother, and at a time in my life when I am about to embrace whole new worlds of things to come. I hope you will too. I feel we are on the cusp of tremendous change if we are open to it. I am as if jumping out of an airplane trusting that I will be caught in an angel’s arms, excited, and ready. Let’s do this thing, shall we?

Well, the turkey needed another thirty minutes. I have turned all the legs over and reset the timer. And I JUST got a text from Rachel saying that her brother Aaron, his wife Stephanie, and baby Atlas have arrived! And Jenny has texted to say that luckily the rental car place is open until midnight and they will get to us asap! (And I texted back “Yay! We will kiss and hug you to pieces when you arrive!”) It’s just a perfect Christmas, the awkward moments, the unplanned occurrences, the plans that go awry, the turkey that isn’t done yet, and finally everybody coming together in the end, just happy to be together! It’s Christmas y’all, as we say here in the south, and I am just tickled to pieces!

Great Big Love & Hugs To Everyone!