"I feel it in my fingers...
(...I feel it in my toes..." that was a pun on the time of year and that I'm typing... get it? ha...)
It is that most wonderful time of year. Officially official now. I have been enjoying Christmas since late October (zero self control this year) so its fun to see everyone else jumping on board and celebrating now with me. It started with the stores in early November, as they took down Halloween decorations and started putting up their Christmas displays. Then the We-Start-Celebrating-Right-After-Thankgiving-Is-Over crowd join in (this is usually the group I associate myself with) and now, in early December we have the final group that believe Christmas and December are mutually exclusive. Which, is fine, but I mean don't put Christmas in a box, its too big and wonderful. Let November have a weekend and give January a week or two. No harm to have a little Christmas spillage. In my humble opinion.
I have slowly gained the reputation of a christmasaholic, (my mother-in-law refers to me as 'the Chrsitmas Queen') and have fairly strong opinions about all things Christmas because of this. The best kind of tree, the most delicious cookies, and the best lights... I could lecture on these (working as an Elf at a Christmas store a few Christmases back totally added to the strength in my opinions as I got the first hand scoop on a lot of these items) but after the decorations are up, the presents are bought and wrapped and the songs have played dozens of times there is still some kind of anticipation and excitement that lingers in the air.
When I think about it...it was always there. There is a certain magic about this time of year. Part of it is the thrill of surprises the comes from presents, part of it is knowing family will be together and the excitement that comes from knowing you'll see those loved ones soon.......but take all that away and the magic remains.
It all falls back to the reason for the season (to throw out an over-used rhyme). Growing up, my family used an advent wreath as their way of teaching us what Christmas was all about. There are 5 candles. Four on the outside of the circle and one in the middle. Four Sundays before Christmas you start by lighting the first candle and each candle represents a phase for getting ready for Jesus. The center candle you light on Christmas.
There are tons of versions of what the 4 candles stand for but in my family we used these 4:
1. Expectation (hope)
2. Preparation
3. Joy
4. Anticipation (longing)
And these are the 4 steps to getting ready for Christmas, and if you think about it, getting ready for most things you are looking forward to. So why would Christmas be any different?
We know its coming.
Getting ready for its arrival.
BEYOND excited as we realize its on its way.
And then the waiting as we are all set, eyes wide open with a big smile on our face...
this, I believe, is the reason for the season: to remember how to live.
and this is coming from The Christmas Queen, a fairly reliable source for all things Christmas,
So get ready!! :)
It is that most wonderful time of year. Officially official now. I have been enjoying Christmas since late October (zero self control this year) so its fun to see everyone else jumping on board and celebrating now with me. It started with the stores in early November, as they took down Halloween decorations and started putting up their Christmas displays. Then the We-Start-Celebrating-Right-After-Thankgiving-Is-Over crowd join in (this is usually the group I associate myself with) and now, in early December we have the final group that believe Christmas and December are mutually exclusive. Which, is fine, but I mean don't put Christmas in a box, its too big and wonderful. Let November have a weekend and give January a week or two. No harm to have a little Christmas spillage. In my humble opinion.
I have slowly gained the reputation of a christmasaholic, (my mother-in-law refers to me as 'the Chrsitmas Queen') and have fairly strong opinions about all things Christmas because of this. The best kind of tree, the most delicious cookies, and the best lights... I could lecture on these (working as an Elf at a Christmas store a few Christmases back totally added to the strength in my opinions as I got the first hand scoop on a lot of these items) but after the decorations are up, the presents are bought and wrapped and the songs have played dozens of times there is still some kind of anticipation and excitement that lingers in the air.
When I think about it...it was always there. There is a certain magic about this time of year. Part of it is the thrill of surprises the comes from presents, part of it is knowing family will be together and the excitement that comes from knowing you'll see those loved ones soon.......but take all that away and the magic remains.
It all falls back to the reason for the season (to throw out an over-used rhyme). Growing up, my family used an advent wreath as their way of teaching us what Christmas was all about. There are 5 candles. Four on the outside of the circle and one in the middle. Four Sundays before Christmas you start by lighting the first candle and each candle represents a phase for getting ready for Jesus. The center candle you light on Christmas.
There are tons of versions of what the 4 candles stand for but in my family we used these 4:
1. Expectation (hope)
2. Preparation
3. Joy
4. Anticipation (longing)
And these are the 4 steps to getting ready for Christmas, and if you think about it, getting ready for most things you are looking forward to. So why would Christmas be any different?
We know its coming.
Getting ready for its arrival.
BEYOND excited as we realize its on its way.
And then the waiting as we are all set, eyes wide open with a big smile on our face...
this, I believe, is the reason for the season: to remember how to live.
and this is coming from The Christmas Queen, a fairly reliable source for all things Christmas,
So get ready!! :)
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