As Micaela has gotten older we have determined that we would like to celebrate holidays more, especially as we live so far from our families and with two crazy jobs we don't get home as much as we would like. We have done really well so far. We got a huge Christmas tree, decorated our whole house, and even put blinking lights up on the outside (a first for us.) I have decided I am going to bake cookies for friends and neighbors, and I may even bake them from scratch instead of buying the cut and bake kind. We have scheduled our weekends full of Christmas activities and I will send Christmas cards this year.
I am desperate to make this holiday season much better than last December, which was probably one of the worst months of my life. I had so many finals and papers due and an average grade was just not acceptable! I also had an incredibly difficult client I was working with that was requiring me to appear in court and I was partially in charge of a charity drive for needy children. It was even worse when the director quit the first week of December! I actually made myself sick with stress, and developed a stomach condition that required medication and left me unable to eat. It was a nightmare.
Fortunately, this season has been much better. I attribute much of it to Christmas music. My first Christmas in Salt Lake I was disappointed that I didn't have any Christmas music. I was eating lunch in the break room at OSF, when the janitor asked if I would mind if she put on some Christmas music to clean to. I said of course not and we began talking about Christmas music. When I expressed to her how I didn't have any, she pulled out two cassette tapes of Christmas music and asked if I would like to keep them. I was so touched and listened to them in our car (yes it is so old it still has a tape player) every day. That same year my father, master of all music, sent me two mixed CDs of Christmas music. I also discovered the all day Christmas radio station, which begins November 1st, and I listen to that all the time too. My all-time favorite Christmas song is "O Holy Night." I will listen to it all day...non-stop...any version. Music does wonders for me.