Monday morning QBing

Monday Morning Quarterbacking - holiday edition


Mondays after a long holiday weekend are always a bit soothing. It's a chance to return to the routine of life.  It's a day of running errands and eating up some leftovers.  It's a time to clean up the kitchen and straighten up the rest of the house.  

It's a time to think back on the busy couple of days that just passed.

This year we stayed home for Thanksgiving.  We were fortunate to have one daughter and our SIL here, and we had a few of our other family members and friends stop in on Thanksgiving to share the time.   The food was good, and the weather was perfect.   The wine poured, and the firepit blaze glowed. 

It was nice to stay put because we had such an active month before with all the repair work that was done on our house due to hurricane Matthew. 

We got to watch some football.  (No comment on Carolina...  except, there's always next year.)

And, we took some time to prepare the house for December.  I like to call it "advent decorating" because Christmas doesn't come until December 25th.  Do you think "advent decorating" will catch on?   When I was a kid, growing up in a Christian family, we lit the advent candles on the wreath that sat on the kitchen table, and we had an Advent calendar with tiny doors to open every day.  There wasn't candy behind the doors - like the calendars are now.   It was either a Bible passage or a little picture of an animal or something about the upcoming birth of Jesus.  The big door in the middle was opened on the 25th and was a picture of the baby Jesus in the manger.

Now,  well, you know - times are different.  Everyone decorates so early and radio stations switch over to Christmas music so early, that by the time December 25th comes it's already a bit old. 

As I sit here this morning, I remind myself - pace myself, take the time Marla!  Enjoy the music, and enjoy the preparation...  that is what the first weeks of December are all about! 

Don't stress.  I will say it to myself again. DO NOT STRESS!     Do not think about others' expectations.   Do not fall into the craziness of the season, say "no" sometimes, and do not let others take away the joy of the season.

Thanksgiving just happened and it was a special day to be thankful for ALL the good that life gives every day.  So, as we continue on EVERY DAY be thankful.  

So, one holiday has ended - and another holiday season is starting.  I'm thinking on this Monday morning to take it a day at a time. Yes, it's time for my pep talk to myself - it's time to tell me to breathe, to relax, to enjoy, to keep Christ as the main focus.  

Here I go....