Christmas may look totally different this year but it is most certainly not cancelled! I am not ashamed to admit that as soon as the sun was up on November 1st our Halloween decorations were down and the Christmas bins started coming out. I have been starting earlier and earlier each year and I'm not going to apologize for it and neither should you. Ask yourself simply, does Christmas bring you joy? If the answer is yes, then string up those lights, turn up the Christmas music and get to celebrating.
For many years I have jokingly said that I wished I had extra time over the holiday season so I could watch all the Hallmark I wanted, do all that crafting, baking and decorating that I always seem to run out of time or energy for. Well you know how the saying goes, careful what you wish for; because now I have all the time in the world. There have been days during this pandemic and furlough where I have been down and out, things have been rough, sometimes I struggle to get out of bed, but now it's Christmas and I am choosing to embrace this craziness that is 2020 and enjoy the holiday season. I am taking this opportunity to do all the things that previous years I wished I had done.
I am going to fill these traveler's notebooks with not only photos and journaling based on the two classes I'm taking from the amazing Shimelle, but will fill with lists, lots of lists. There will be the holiday viewing list, the Christmas cookie list, the celebrate the season activity list, a list of photos I want to take, etc. etc. etc. I will be creating fun Christmas crafts, and putting together my annual Celebrate the Season scrapbook. Once upon a time I had someone tell me part of the reason they couldn't be with me anymore was because I needed to make the holidays "too epic" and you know what? Damn right! This may be the most odd holiday season we've ever experienced but I plan to make it the most epic one yet. We have a choice here, we can either remember 2020 for all the things it took from us OR we can make some pretty amazing memories by rallying and saving this holiday.
So whose with me? Who wants to make this one of the best holiday seasons ever? Between now and January 6th we will be full of Christmas cheer around here, there will be new recipes tried, new movies watched, crafting, creating, decorating, carols will be sung and so many photos will be taken, so what are you hoping to see? I also want to know what is your favorite holiday tradition? Let me know in the comments, I'm so excited to hear how you all celebrate the holidays!
steampunkin8 - I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your parents and that your sister is ill, I will be thinking about you this holiday season.
This has been a challenge (to say the least) for my family and “thanks to COVID” I’m unable to spend the holidays with my Mother. In the past I haven’t visited home out of choice. This year the dang pandemic is blocking the trip. That said, since I’m static this year I’m planning on enjoying as much of the season with my local loved ones and appreciating every second I have
I love Christmas too! However, I lost both of my parents in 2020 and it's very likely one of my sisters will pass before year's end. All of this makes it difficult for me to be my usual holly jolly self - I feel guilty being joyful as my other sister has taken out losses even harder.