I'm thankful for all the wonderful memories I have of Christmas growing up; parents who loved me and were stable. For Christmas eve candlelight services, and fires in the fireplace, many years with family and friends and food and celebration, the year Jon surprised us by flying back from across the world, the year Jeremy brought his guitar and we sang carols in the living room, the time we all piled into Homer and went to see the St. Jovite house, playing rob your neighbor in Jeff and Amie's basement with a bunch of confused but excited kiddos :) My Christmas nostalgia bank is filled to overflowing.
I'm also thankful for my life here in Seattle. For great roommates, past and present. For some amazing friends, who I can be my truest self with. For some wise counselors. For my crazy, wonderful, annoying work-family. For the church I get to freely be a part of. For a job that challenges me, and provides money so I can enjoy life and travel to people I love who are far away. For my gym, and trainers who make me look forward to going there and pushing myself harder.
I think I just wrote myself out of the funk I've been in. It's amazing what a difference it makes dwelling on what you do have instead of what you don't have.
Speaking of funks, I bought a Happy Light. I'm skeptical, but people say they really help with mood and energy (and the sun is gone until July), so I will sit within 18 inches of this thing for 1-2 hours a day and see what happens. Updates to come...
I got to spend a few hours with these little lovelies on Thursday so their parents could go to a Christmas concert. As a single adult, it's fun to hang out with kids because you sort of get to be a kid again. For instance, I would never spontaneously play with play-dough, build a tower out of blocks, or run around the house in circles just for the fun of it. I recognize that if I had kids of my own, I would probably lack the energy to run around the house in circles. Thus the brilliance of "The Runaround Song" that my dad would put on. Did anyone (of my brothers) ever figure out/remember what song that was?
Oh yeah, some recent life lessons, for those of you who enjoy learning from the mistakes of others:
- Even though they are delicious in eggs, do not dice jalapeno peppers before you have put your contacts in. No matter how many times you wash your hands, you will end up putting what feels like a lava pellet directly onto your eyeball.
- Jello shots, even when festively colored red and green for a Christmas party, are not a good idea. You may want to smuggle the teacup Yorkie belonging to one of the party hostesses out of the party in your purse. You may also want to go to sleep on the bathroom floor, and wake up very cold with a 'dead arm.'
Leave your favorite Christmas memory in the comments!
