Christmas Craziness

What a crazy week it's been! I've been working every day since Tuesday, running around trying to get that last minute shopping done, plus doctor's appointments and other fun stuff. Still have a little baking and wrapping to do. I just finished baking a batch of M&M cookies and I made some gingerbread dough. I'll bake and decorate the gingerbread men tomorrow, for I know if I make them tonight they will end up with mean little faces, complete with fangs.

Yes, once again I find myself trying to achieve that perfect Norman Rockwell kind of Christmas, but I find myself turning into Norman Bates. I should know better, for it's not the perfect Christmases I remember, but the funny, not-so perfect ones. Like how every year my Father would bring home the most sorry looking Christmas tree he could find, you know the kind with no branches in the middle or in the back. The kind of tree that makes Charlie Brown's look like the one in Rockefeller Center. My Mother would get so mad, but somehow she managed to turn those trees into works of art. Now that's a Christmas miracle!

Then I remember the first Christmas with Carlos in our home and we finally had enough space for a large tree. I had decorated it so beautifully with all these delicate glass ornaments and I was so proud of that tree. Then I came home from work on Christmas Eve to find my pretty tree face down on the living room floor with several of the ornaments broken. Seems my beloved Sheltie, who is now in doggie heaven, managed to get caught in it and caused it to topple over. (I know this because I found a large clump of his fur in the tree.) I laugh about it now, and Archie even has a special place on our tree, featuring his collars and some of the ornaments he broke:



Then there are the little things that make me smile, like that house I drive by every day with all the decorations. The guy looks like he's hosting a winter carnival on his front lawn-he even has a small ferris wheel! Well Friday afternoon, him and his wife were outside dressed like Mr. and Mrs. Claus and waving to everyone. And their children were dressed like Santa's reindeer, in furry brown suits and antlers, and they were on all fours, lined up on the front steps. I wish I had my camera with me.

And then there are moments like these, in your own home:



My sweet dog Raven, had a seizure today, right in front of the Christmas tree. She seems okay now, but she is going to see the vet later this week, so we'll see. She is twelve, but I hope it's nothing serious.

So enjoy your Christmas, hope its a wonderful one that you'll always cherish.