Wow! While sitting (oh too comfortably) on the couch, I saw it. The FIRST HOLIDAY COMMERCIAL...for, wait for it...CREAMER. Yep, the non-mistakable jingle of bells in the background and snowflake themed bottle of nutmegy egg noggy goodness promptly quickened my pulse and evoked a wee bit of panic. Breathe. Remember it starts before Halloween now. Before you've even really recovered fully from the start of the school year it hits. Seemingly earlier each year, the season smacks you square on the jaw as if to say, "HEY, YOU! Start those lists, get out your cookie cutters and grab a bunch of smelly pinecones before you carve those pumpkins or you'll never catch up!" Breathe. Okay, we all can get waaaaay too caught up in the hurry of the coming season but try to embrace the mess of it all and ENJOY the moments. My advice? Find the thing that makes you most happy about the season and remember to keep it your priority. For me, avoiding the humbug of it all only happens if I remember to find perspective. Not all among us have it easy this time of the year. Our family chooses to find ways to give back to others where we can. Our countdown to the holidays starts with a laundry basket. Yep. We buy a nice clean new laundry basket and each day place an item in it that someone in need could use. At the end, we have a basket full of items that we take to our local shelter. As the basket fills up, so do we...with the holiday spirit.
Also, we keep it close to our holiday calendar and it provides a great visual for us to keep it top of mind. And, just a reminder, behind every picture of this:
IS THIS: (embrace the messy moments!)
