I am beyond excited about this Sunday's Christmas Stocking extravaganza. A stress free step into the holiday season. Sign me up!
I've been thinking about last year's holiday season. Lots of bad news & difficult times. Many of us are still struggling a year after the whole stock market ugliness. Expenses, health insurance, jobs lost, health issues...its all alive and well. And since I am no stranger to difficult, life altering events, I think about this stuff ~ alot.
I think, I vent, I worry and I whine. But every once in a while, I listen.
This week, I listened to...*gulp*...my teenagers. I was home with Liv talking about decisions you make, how we really do not have alot of control, etc. One thing led to another and before you knew it, I blurted out the super secret, cross my heart stick a needle in my eye I am not supposed to fess up to this ever thing.
I said, "You know, if anyone had laid it all out in front of me and showed me how my life would go, I am quite certain I would have run very fast in the opposite direction. "
Now, while most kids would have been emotionally scarred & devastated hearing their mother question her life choices, Liv responded without missing a beat:
"Oh, Mom, that's a bit dramatic, isn't it? I mean c'mon. How many people would jump up and down waving their hands in the air saying "Pick Me. Oh Please pick me! I want that one. The life with the bi-polar kids. Oh and throw in owning a retail business during a recession. Yeah..that's the life. PLEEEZE - I want that one."
Huh. Lesson #1 for me. Ease up on the drama. Stop dissecting every wrong turn, unfortunate event and worse. Its not all about you. No one signs up for the bad stuff. Its just part of the package.
Lesson #2. This one I learned from Max. He was complaining about all the work and projects he had this week. How his teachers dumped all this stuff on him at once and he just couldn't finish it all during his free periods. And his AP class - ugh - way too much stuff. Max has an A average and never brings so much as a pencil home.
I mentioned that bringing a book home or doing home- work is something alot of kids do. And if he did, he might actually develop study habits that would help him in college.
"Well, I will learn study habits in college."
"Max, it might be too late."
"No, mom, it will be fine. This is high school and I am not going to kill myself in high school."
"But how will you learn to study if you never do it?"
"How? Oh, I will learn. Mom, I am very adaptable."
After I got over my frustration, I realized Max had just handed me Lesson #2: We are capable. We can adapt. We do not control what happens but we can adapt and chose how we react.
Imagine getting a new perspective via the utterings of your teenagers. Yikes! But as I dusted my way through Monday, clearing the bookshelves and reorganizing, I found 2 books side by side: Snow White & The Grinch who Stole Christmas. Growing up, I was a fairy tale kind of girl. Mirror, mirror on the wall, princes, castles, and happy endings. This is how I grew up. This was what I believed.
Now, the kids, they loved the Grinch. They loved the part where Cindy Lou Who and the whole town of Whoville hold hands and sing in a gigantic circle. Smiling and happy with no tangible reason at all to celebrate . No drama. Just adapting and being present.
So, I'm tossing aside the whole Snow White thing. I am not as interested in endings anymore happy or otherwise. I am looking at today. How I live it. How I can celebrate it. Even when it appears there is no tangible reason for doing so. And I am going to move through this holiday season in true Whoville style. Taking things as they come. Reaching out and holding a hand or two along the way.

I just googled the name of your shop to get information about a pattern that my sister sent to me after she knit a hat for my granddaughter (a heart and the words "Spirit Work" were printed at the top of the pattern). I started the pattern last night and wished that I could call her to ask a question about the pattern.
I'm sitting here with tears running down my cheeks as I type because my sister was Marsha. She used to talk about you and your shop and how she loved to come in and knit and what dear friends she'd made through knitting.
How strange life is that today, missing her and wishing I could pick up the phone and ask her about this pattern, I should find your shop through google. I just called and left a message on your answering machine and decided to check out your blog. You can't imagine how wonderful it is to see this tribute to such a dear and special person.
I live in PA and so Marsha and I didn't see each other often but talked on the phone, laughing and crying at times about events in our lives. We both shared a love of knitting and used to talk often about the beautiful yarns you have in your store.
When I went to her house for her funeral, I looked at all the balls of yarn, knitting needles sticking up in unfinished projects, patterns and books ready for her to start a new project and realized how important this art was in her life; a genuine source of joy and therapy.
Reading your note about her brought her back to me; it's like seeing her again, hearing her deep, hearty laugh again; thank you so much, you've allowed others to see how really special she is. I really believe that Marsha is instrumental in guiding me to your site today.
Best regards,
Susan
Yup - it just made my day. And now I am heading home. To sit, and knit and hug my unfinished projects. (Okay - and David & those darn kids too!)