I always post the day after NaBloPoMo is over, and then I think, with adorable optimism, "maybe I will keep posting every day! What a good way to think deeply about more things and write more!" I will leave it to your good sense to assume whether or not that has ever worked out.
I had an amazing weekend but didn't get a lot of sleep, so I came home after work and sat on the couch for a bit and then got up and tried to address some things I wanted to get done. Matt put up the tree before he left for Phoenix on Sunday (we finally said goodbye to buying real trees and got a Costco tree last year and I love it), and put the garland on the stair rail. So there are fun sparkly Christmas lights, but a fair bit of mess around them. I wanted to clear off the dining room table, get all the bags that are at the top of the stairs to the basement with all the Christmas shopping I've done so far and take them downstairs, maybe clean out the dresser by the front entrance because I like to stow small Christmas presents in there so they don't get lost, and maybe bring up a few Christmas decoration boxes.
So far I have cleaned off about a quarter of the dining room table, then cleaned out one drawer of the dresser and laid out all THAT stuff on the table, cooked some Asian noodles and stir-fried beef and broccoli (but not eaten any), and brought up zero boxes. And my knee and back hurt and I'm tired.
It's fine, right? I mean, I know it's fine. I don't really feel the Christmas panic I used to sometimes feel at the beginning of December. The kids aren't even home until the 19th. I want to get some decorations up in time to enjoy them for a bit, but I should do that in a way that does not make me feel exhausted and overwhelmed, because that is a prime example of Defeating One's Purpose. But goodness gracious is it STILL difficult to figure out a good balance between doing enough to make the season feel festive and magical (I was grocery shopping today listening to Christmas carols thinking "Does the kids jingle-belling and everyone telling you 'be of good cheer' REALLY sound like 'the most wonderful time of the year?) and not so much that by December 20th I'm collapsed in a heap of glitter, cookie sprinkles and scotch tape, snarling and brandishing a candy cane threateningly at anyone who approaches.
I am also sort of watching the last Mission Impossible movie, because Angus rented it yesterday on our account (from Charlotte) so I figured I should watch it while we have it, and also marvel at the weird-ass gifts technology has brought us. It's... loud. I didn't really get into the first few, but then when Angus would come home we often went to see one together and I gained more of an appreciation. We had been mocking how Tom Cruise kept coming on the screen before other movies talking about how cutting edge these movies were, and then I said to Angus one day "so I read the review for the new Mission Impossible movie and ... apparently it's really good, and pretty cutting edge." Right now I'm thinking maybe I only like MI movies when I see them with Angus?
I'm going to go eat some stir-fry while I ponder these various matters.
2 comments:
I dislike Tom Cruise on principle but he is a decent actor and I kind of love the MI movies. Haven't seen the latest though.
Kids jingle belling gets obnoxious real fast, I have very recent experience with this (thanks to an eager for Christmas kid who dug out a set of jingly reindeer antlers last night and wore them merrily until I said no reindeer antlers at the dinner table hashtag grinch mom).
I feel so seen with this post. Balance is everything and so dang hard to get right. I guess that's part of the... magic???
Regardless, your decor looks lovely and hooray for twinkle lights.
Our kids LOVE Mission Impossible movies so it's become a fun family event for us to go see the new movies. I think watching them with a child makes it exponentially more enjoyable!
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