... the calm ....

so .. i've been doing this serene thing ... really, really, really trying to stay calm and happy and sweet and serene and kind ... and watch what i think and say and feel ... and when i don't like how i feel to work on changing it ... to watch for overwhelmed ... to take care of myself this holiday so that i can make my family happy, because here in this house, like in many, as is the mother, so goes the family .... i didn't actually know that little nugget of wisdom a few months ago when i was in a good snit... a not fleeting snit ... a full blown mired down in blah snit .... and my sweet husband basically said, buck up .... buck up, cause the four of us need you! we love you adore and need you to help us live our lives .... and when you are happy you make all of us happy .... figure out why you are out of sorts, fix it or move on .... he told me i was the house cheerleader, clown, chief and barometer .... and could he do something to help me get back on track ... well ... apparently the pep talk was enough ... and i  gave myself a bit of an attitude adjustment .... and worked on joy and calm ....

so now ... i'm in this full blown calm and serene state .... but ya know what? calm and serene doesn't get a lot done .... taking the happy path doesn't necessarily accomplish much besides happy! .... like today? i've played multiple games of mario carts on wii with my kids ... taken both girls shopping separately (again ... i did the same thing yesterday ) ... but my shopping has been done for a while now .... and i went and ate frozen yogurt cause the kids wanted to ... and ... well ... i've not wrapped my gifts ... or done my christmas letter or cards .... or cleaned up for company coming .... but i am happy and calm and serene and enjoying my family and our break from school .... i did do a few responsible things ... three dentist appointments (no cavities) ... three loads of laundry .... made dinner .....

so .... happily ... i give you my standard joy post ....

 JOY post 20

today's joy: frozen eggnog yogurt , singing our advent song as we lit our advent candles at dinner tonight ... and right now, my family is all sitting in the dark with just the lights of the orange christmas tree, the glow of my computer, and harry potter 7.2 on the tv .... 

preparation: little.e.beck.artist wrapped loads of gifts today ... and after dinner tonight the family chatted and we figured out our menus for four important meals leading up to christmas :

thursday night: the inlaws arrive ... salmon, asparagus, new potatoes, fruit salad

friday night: take the grands out to dinner

saturday night (we usually have tenderloin christmas eve): italian night .... chicken parm, angel hair pasta, green beans, good bread

sunday xmas morning: cinnamon rolls, sausage rolls, grapefruit, canteloupe

sunday christmas dinner (we usually have turkey, stuffing, dressing, gravy, mash taters) : ... beef tenderloin, potato casserole, yeast rolls, spinach, corn casserole

we are trying to mix up our dinners to better suit the kids .... none of them like the things that go with turkey ... i don't like gravy much, even though i make it quite well .. i guess i never encouraged them to like it .... 

serenity: well ... i'm blogging and watching a movie instead of doing my christmas card ... and it is december 20th ... yikes .... but i'll get to them ... i hope ... and if i don't, it's ok .... or, ok with me ... 

happy shot of the day: 

here is little.e.beck.artist .... did you know that my family doesn't use paper napkins or paper towels .... it's our best green thing .... when i got married 20something years ago i made the decision to only use cloth napkins and towels ... and so it has been ever since ...

during the year the five of us each have a different napkin ring so that we can reuse napkins for a couple meals .... i've been a duck lately .... now i'm a jaunty snowman .... we have sets of rings, but think it is more fun to all have different .... 

and the dog got her christmas bath ... and her bangs trimmed too .... everyone needs to spiffy up a bit, for christmas, right? so, in my serene and calm and slacker state, i was going to skip the dog washing ... even though there were multitudes of family comments about her ... um ... scent .... her unpleasant scent .... happily, sometimes when one person doesn't want to something, someone else picks up the slack .... 

so, who's going to do my christmas cards? hmmmmm ....