The last 25 days have been spent waiting for Christmas. There have been quiet times, candle lightings, gospel lessons, nativity building and anticipation. Today was the culmination of all those things as we welcomed the new born babe and celebrated with gifts and food.
I usually have a problem with depression at some point during the holiday season and this year has been no different. There was one day a couple of weeks ago and then again today. I don't know why, a let down perhaps. Even though we try to emphasize the real meaning of Christmas and not dwell on the material side of it there is still that moment of realization that all the planning and working is over in the blink of an eye. I know that "Christmas" is just beginning with twelve days to follow but being raised in America it was our tradition to celebrate on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then it was done and we readied ourselves for the New Year.
So, today, as I was making the final preparations for our dinner and final lighting of the Advent candles I was already thinking ahead toward the New Year and things I want to accomplish. I don't believe in resolutions -- it is like they are made just to be broken. I much prefer plans and goals.
I have a few of those for the new year -- some big, some not so big, so long term and some to bring closure. One of my goals this year is to be a better blogger. I have a few things I would like to incorporate here at Maison Brinkley -- both personally and for the household in general. I am going to make a more concerted effort to actually document them here with photographs.
Photographs -- hmm...that reminds me, it seems that three of the four screws in the front of my camera have fallen out and my camera is in grave danger of just disintegrating so I might have to think about a new one. In any event, I am hoping to do better with the blog.
I am also rethinking reading challenges. This year I signed up for several and wasn't particularly successful with most so 2016 will find me participating in only one. I have several series that I would have loved to have finished this year but didn't so I will continue with those this year. I have learned that reading challenges are sort of double edged sword. On one hand they sort of force you to read more but I wonder if, in doing that, we don't read as well and get as much out of the books as we could if we took more time. I don't know but I do know that I am going to do only one.
I am also giving more thought to household things such as tidying, decluttering and meal planning and prepping. I have recently read an interesting article that takes meal planning a step farther and concentrates on prepping and pre-cooking some things. I found it fascinating and am going to give that a go and see if it can help me prepare an evening meal with limited time. The Hubs and I both need to lose a little (haha!) weight and get more exercise so that is a huge goal of the new year.
But, for tonight, I am taking my book, heading to my bed and going to lose myself in a good read.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and look forward to great weekend!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
Hi there! My name is Trixie and I am a 4 month old Yorkshire Terrier. I came to live with Mommy Nona and Grampsey two weeks ago. I came... -
Hi, all! Still here! Still removing from the Thanksgiving plague although I think now it has just morphed into miserable allergies what wi...
2 comments:
I know what you mean about depression at this time of year. I get it every year, too. Maybe it's genetic. Fortunately (I guess), Christmas is Michael's favorite time of year, and he's so chirpy the whole time, it sort of lifts my spirits too.
Yes, one of my goals for the new year is "be a better blogger" -- I was really lazy in 2015. I'm so very good at putting things off, and then they just don't get done.
I did get more reading done than I thought I would, and I really believe the reading challenges did help. And they sort of nudge me into reading things I wouldn't normally think about looking into. Which (I hope) is keeping my brain from drying up completely.
You know, it might be genetic. My mother loved Christmas but, if I remember correctly, it was never Aunt Linnie's favorite time of the year -- I suspect because she worked in retail. I generally really enjoy it but there are always a couple of days that something just hits me the wrong way and I just turn into such a grinch. Fortunately, it doesn't last. I actually think my favorite day of the season is the day after Christmas when I can just chill with a book or a movie or something. Yes, I need to improve the blogging situation. I love to blog and I love to read blogs but this year I have just been so negligent. I even lost one of my 21 readers -- I am so popular! But, anyway, it is something I enjoy doing so I need to be better at it. I do agree that the challenges help with the reading and I really enjoy the Goodreads group but I tried to do a bunch of other and while they did overlap it just didn't seem right. But, I am going to do that one and hopefully I will finish some of the series I have been working on.
Post a Comment