Festive Friday Fill-Ins

Today I'm joining bloggers at Friday Fill-Ins. Our host starts the sentences and we finish them with our own responses. To join in the fun, click here for the questions.

1. Snow covers my neighborhood like powdered sugar on Turkish Delight.

2. I'm looking forward to reading Jan Karon's "Shepherds Abiding" this weekend.

3. Cafe Haven is the best place to get the awesome-est latte ever!

4. One of my favorite old TV shows is the old holiday variety specials when famous people sang Christmas carols and songs.

5. I'm done with trying to figure out everyone's expectations and trying to meet them.

6. The most enjoyable thing around the holidays is the wonderful mix of happy social times with people and the quiet, reflective times alone or with God.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to snuggly time with my hubby and my kitty cat, tomorrow my plans include an outing with new friends to a ladies Christmas Brunch, and Sunday, I want to attend the Alberta Baroque Ensemble's Christmas Concert with my hubby!

No matter how busy you get today, remember to grab any wonder-filled moments that come your way with both hands!

Joy! Joy!
Brenda

Sugar Plum Dreamin'

Imagination is a wonderful gift. How else would the children in The Night Before Christmas have had visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads? No doubt you can probably reach back into your own childhood and remember your own wild and beautiful imagination.

Oh, to have such vivid imaginations even now that we're grown up. Maybe now we don't dream about sugar plums, but we all carry secret wishes and dreams that desperately need the gift of our imagination. We need to let go of the old messages to 'stop daydreaming' and allow the eyes of our heart to even just think about what we'd like. Walt Disney apparently first said it, 'If you can dream it, you can do it.' He also went on to say, 'Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.'

So while your kids dream about 'sugar plum' ipods and the latest video games this Christmas, why not dream and imagine your own sugar plum visions for yourself. What do you want? If folks like Walt Disney can dream a dream and do it, it's possible for us too.

Now, if you're wondering what sugar plums really look like, check out the recipe here.

Happy Sugar Plum Dreamin'

Brenda

xox

The Joy of Advent Calendars

Did you like Advent calendars as a child? Does your child 'inside' still enjoys opening new windows every morning in December?

If so, you might be interested in an advent calendar designed by a fellow blogger, Violet, over at Promptings. She is sharing with her readers a new 'window' each day this month until Christmas.

Only 22 more sleeps,

Brenda

xox

Reduce Stress This Holiday Season

Source

It's the time of year when things get busier than usual. Suddenly we feel overwhelmed and the fun ebbs away like the tide. Why not stop for a moment and breathe deeply. Do once, twice, three times.

Now read these tips and see if these won't help:

1. First, ask yourself if everything on your To-Do list is really necessary to make your holiday merry and bright. Keep what's important and rule out what might just be excess and clutter for you. For example, I really enjoying writing and sending greeting cards and letters to keep in touch with people, so I make time for this tradition. But I know lots of people find it a huge burden. If it's just a chore -- and your heart's not in it -- who says it has to stay a part of your holiday tradition! Do the things that make your heart sing and rejoice.

2. Schedule a date with a good friend you don't see often. Visit a local site, like a greenhouse, that's all gussied up, festive and fragrant with blossoms and balsam. Browse through their Christmas display and relax over a steaming latte in a cozy setting.

3. Treat your body like a queen. One way is to stay away from foods that make you feel heavy and uncomfortable. Of course, we all want to enjoy the rich foods that come out only at Christmas time, but I'm learning to temper that with eating things that don't make me feel sluggish afterward. For instance, we go through boxes of mandarin oranges at this time of year. They are a treat, they have lots of vitamin C, and yet they don't make me feel heavy when I've eaten them.

4. Carve out mini rests for yourself during the day. And I do mean mini -- just 60 seconds can make a difference. I'm always surprised at how long a minute actually feels when I stop doing and just 'be' awhile. For me, the key is to focus on relaxing and not think about what I'll do when I start moving again.

Here's hoping these ideas reduce the stress so that you can enjoy these days more.

Cheerily yours,

Brenda

Thinking About Gift Giving

It's the first of December ... and for those of us who love Christmas, we can gleefully start our holiday preparations in earnest, which includes focusing our attention more closely on the gifts we want to give this year. Of course, for some of us, that might cause more stress than delight.

It's so easy to get caught up in the social obligation of gift giving at this time of year. Instead of feeling a sense of joy and wonder, we can start to feel the pressure because it's expected of us. I don't know about you, but I don't want to receive something from someone if they only feel a sense of duty to give it to me. I don't want to give in that spirit either.

I don't shop the way I used to, and I no longer play the game of guessing how much someone might spend on me so that I might give something of similar value. The stress I used to carry as I tried to figure that out -- it still gives me the shudders. Always wondering if it was the right thing, if I spent enough to indicate some reasonable measure of 'love'. I assume that, right or wrong, it creeps from a mindset of commercialism and consumerism that seems to be a mostly North American malady. Diamonds and fancy presents are not the only way to express a measure of love. Now, if you have the ability to share those kinds of gifts, by all means let those items be an expression of the love you have in your heart.

And, for many of us whose pocketbooks aren't as thickly padded, we need to somehow let that pressure go. And the means we have within our reach, that's what we use. Sometimes the best gifts are those wrapped in beautiful paper and bows; sometimes they are less tangible but still as life-giving: gentle and affirming words, generous giving of time and energy, providing acts of service, to name a few. Large or small ... only as long as it speaks from the heart.  

I do want my gifts to be an expression from my heart. Because, in the end, it doesn't matter if we're two or ninety-two, we are all looking for that special something that conveys the message....

"You I notice ... you I cherish."

Happy Preparations,

Brenda