A Beautiful Star
We got to wear our pajamas to school today and I love Pajama Days! I slept in an hour longer and put on my Christmas pjs, blinking light ornament earrings, and barely combed my hair, and I was out the door! (gotta love days like today) This was the last day of school for 2016. Hallelujah, and praise the Lord! December 21st is the latest we have gotten out of school in like EVER. I arrived at school at 7:45 this morning already counting down the hours until 3:00 when I planned to bust out the door without even a glance backward. I had plans tonight. I needed to get home and get ready. Finally, I was going to do something Christmasy.
I met my friend at 5:15 and we drove to Greensboro. I never do anything in Greensboro and now I've decided I need to go there more often. There are a ton of great restaurants there and fun things to do. We chose to eat dinner at Liberty Oak Restaurant and Bar. It is right around the corner from Triad Stage where we had tickets to see "A Beautiful Star: An Appalachian Nativity." at 7:00 pm.
"We take you to the peaks of the Blue Ridge where Reverend Roy Ledbetter and all the members of the Open Heart Community Fellowship have been working hard to fill your holidays with joy. Starting with Genesis and going all the way to the Nativity, they spin a holiday story with down-home laughter, toe-tappin’ music and a tug at the heartstrings as one of Triad Stage’s most popular hits."
I haven't been to a Christmas play, any play, in ages upon ages. It was fun and it was also fun to put on some nice clothes and go out and do SOMETHING. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and Christmas activities have been few and far between the last few years. This was a treat.
I will spend the next three days getting ready for Christmas. I need to finish a little bit of shopping. I need to plan what we will be having for Christmas dinner and then go to the grocery store and get it. I need to wrap presents and maybe bake a few things. I just haven't had time to do any of this. I used to love all this hustle and bustle, but the older I get the more I find that I enjoy things more simply and less hassle-free. Every year I say I want to enjoy Christmas more, take a slower pace, soak it all in. I do try. I really do try, but by the time I get home from teaching first graders all day, I'm not much in the mood to go back out or tackle any in home projects. This year I did scale down the decorations. If you decorate your house, then you know how much work goes into making your home look like Santas Land. I just couldn't do it this year and you know what? It was OK. I let myself off the hook and gave myself a free pass this time around. It felt really good. (something is happening to me. LOL)
Last weekend was supposed to be my Christmas Party Get Together for all my girlfriends. I've done it the last three years. Each year has been so much fun. I go all out... food, decorations, a cool theme, gifts, etc... Usually, around 15-20 people are in attendance. This year I decided not to do it. After all that's happened the last few months, I just didn't have it in me to throw this big party. I really wanted to spend time with my friends, but the Party Girl in me wasn't present this year. I did invite my friends from high school (YaYas) for the weekend (they would have been in attendance for the big party anyway) but I decided the weekend should be for just the five of us. No scurrying about trying to get the house ready or having to prepare tons of food; I wanted some time for us to catch up and talk and laugh or cry if necessary. We've all had hardships this year, really serious tough things. Time was my Christmas gift this year and it was perfect. These girls have been in my life since 1976 and one of them since we were 8 years old in elementary school together. The gift of time is especially poignant this year because one of these girls was diagnosed with breast cancer (for the 2nd time) and in October she had a mastectomy and just three weeks ago, she had reconstruction surgery, and yet she made the trek to be with all of us. We have an oncology nurse in the bunch so it was all good. We had such a great weekend, but as always, it was too short, but how thankful we were for this special time together.
All of my children, minus one, will be home for Christmas. It will be strange and I will miss him so very much. This will be the first time in his life that he won't be with us for Christmas and first time as a Momma that I won't have all by babies with me. (ouch!) He is married now and will be at the in-laws this year. It will be rough for mom not having all the chicks in the nest, but I understand. As children grow and become their own selves with adult lives and responsibilities, things change. Holidays change whether we like it or not. So in my head, I am talking to myself telling myself that all will be well. This is the way life goes and we adjust our sails accordingly. I am looking forward to our annual Love Feast on Christmas Eve and sitting with our friends who save us a seat each year because we come rolling in late. The kids will do their celebrating with their dad after the Love Feast and I'm not sure what I will do. I think I'm going to try and make some plans this time so I don't go home to an empty house. The kids will all be back for the night, but until then, why shouldn't I have some fun too? Right. :) Life changes. I change. I think that's a good motto to adopt.
I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope you will ponder and reflect on the season and take the time to admire the Beautiful Star as He was admired that glorious night in a stable in Bethlehem. Such an amazing story! He is Christmas. I hope you were able to find just the right gifts to give and you've been able to do all you wanted to do, but I also hope you have time to savor the moments, love your people, rejoice and be thankful for all you have been given (seen or unseen). Just soak it all in because this really is a magical time of year.
With love,
D~
I met my friend at 5:15 and we drove to Greensboro. I never do anything in Greensboro and now I've decided I need to go there more often. There are a ton of great restaurants there and fun things to do. We chose to eat dinner at Liberty Oak Restaurant and Bar. It is right around the corner from Triad Stage where we had tickets to see "A Beautiful Star: An Appalachian Nativity." at 7:00 pm."We take you to the peaks of the Blue Ridge where Reverend Roy Ledbetter and all the members of the Open Heart Community Fellowship have been working hard to fill your holidays with joy. Starting with Genesis and going all the way to the Nativity, they spin a holiday story with down-home laughter, toe-tappin’ music and a tug at the heartstrings as one of Triad Stage’s most popular hits."
I haven't been to a Christmas play, any play, in ages upon ages. It was fun and it was also fun to put on some nice clothes and go out and do SOMETHING. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and Christmas activities have been few and far between the last few years. This was a treat.
I will spend the next three days getting ready for Christmas. I need to finish a little bit of shopping. I need to plan what we will be having for Christmas dinner and then go to the grocery store and get it. I need to wrap presents and maybe bake a few things. I just haven't had time to do any of this. I used to love all this hustle and bustle, but the older I get the more I find that I enjoy things more simply and less hassle-free. Every year I say I want to enjoy Christmas more, take a slower pace, soak it all in. I do try. I really do try, but by the time I get home from teaching first graders all day, I'm not much in the mood to go back out or tackle any in home projects. This year I did scale down the decorations. If you decorate your house, then you know how much work goes into making your home look like Santas Land. I just couldn't do it this year and you know what? It was OK. I let myself off the hook and gave myself a free pass this time around. It felt really good. (something is happening to me. LOL)
Last weekend was supposed to be my Christmas Party Get Together for all my girlfriends. I've done it the last three years. Each year has been so much fun. I go all out... food, decorations, a cool theme, gifts, etc... Usually, around 15-20 people are in attendance. This year I decided not to do it. After all that's happened the last few months, I just didn't have it in me to throw this big party. I really wanted to spend time with my friends, but the Party Girl in me wasn't present this year. I did invite my friends from high school (YaYas) for the weekend (they would have been in attendance for the big party anyway) but I decided the weekend should be for just the five of us. No scurrying about trying to get the house ready or having to prepare tons of food; I wanted some time for us to catch up and talk and laugh or cry if necessary. We've all had hardships this year, really serious tough things. Time was my Christmas gift this year and it was perfect. These girls have been in my life since 1976 and one of them since we were 8 years old in elementary school together. The gift of time is especially poignant this year because one of these girls was diagnosed with breast cancer (for the 2nd time) and in October she had a mastectomy and just three weeks ago, she had reconstruction surgery, and yet she made the trek to be with all of us. We have an oncology nurse in the bunch so it was all good. We had such a great weekend, but as always, it was too short, but how thankful we were for this special time together.
 |
| The bridge at Old Salem |
All of my children, minus one, will be home for Christmas. It will be strange and I will miss him so very much. This will be the first time in his life that he won't be with us for Christmas and first time as a Momma that I won't have all by babies with me. (ouch!) He is married now and will be at the in-laws this year. It will be rough for mom not having all the chicks in the nest, but I understand. As children grow and become their own selves with adult lives and responsibilities, things change. Holidays change whether we like it or not. So in my head, I am talking to myself telling myself that all will be well. This is the way life goes and we adjust our sails accordingly. I am looking forward to our annual Love Feast on Christmas Eve and sitting with our friends who save us a seat each year because we come rolling in late. The kids will do their celebrating with their dad after the Love Feast and I'm not sure what I will do. I think I'm going to try and make some plans this time so I don't go home to an empty house. The kids will all be back for the night, but until then, why shouldn't I have some fun too? Right. :) Life changes. I change. I think that's a good motto to adopt.
I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope you will ponder and reflect on the season and take the time to admire the Beautiful Star as He was admired that glorious night in a stable in Bethlehem. Such an amazing story! He is Christmas. I hope you were able to find just the right gifts to give and you've been able to do all you wanted to do, but I also hope you have time to savor the moments, love your people, rejoice and be thankful for all you have been given (seen or unseen). Just soak it all in because this really is a magical time of year.
With love,
D~
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