Today we light the pink candle on the Advent wreath. This one represents joy. We are joyful for the coming of the birth of Christ. We are supposed to be using this time to prepare our hearts. As the priest pointed out, the true reason for Christmas is usually the last thing on our minds this time of year. We are so busy baking, shopping, decorating and going to parties, we have no time to truly prepare for Christmas.

This year I feel like I’m either in control or so out of control, I don’t know it. It’s a fine line. I’ve partially done everything – the shopping, the baking, the decorating but I’m not feeling too stressed. Only wo weeks to go. That is what is making me nervous – am I fooling myself that this year it won’t be too nutty?

I believe part of this is it gets easier at the kids get older. There’s still an expectation to maintain the Christmas activities they enjoy, but the pressure is off. Maybe the relief of not doing the whole Santa thing is the difference. I’m not sure. Kathryn still prepares a list but instead of the 20 page PowerPoint (10 of which were always barnyard animals she thought we should get) it is now in Google docs. The beauty of this is that I can write comments on stuff she puts on the list.

She wants to get her cartilage pierced. She had explained that it isn’t good to use a gun and you have to go to a tattoo parlor or something to have it done. I wrote next to this item “After a few drinks, I will take care of this for you.” She did not find that funny and told me I was not supposed to be commenting. I didn’t know the rules. I looked at the list once and got the idea of what she was hoping for only to find out she keeps adding stuff. Again, I didn’t know the rules – you have to check it every day.  Of course I appreciate all the ideas. 🙂

Tonight I’ve picked Amy Grant’s “I Need a Silent Night” for everyone who is feeling the stress or for people like me who are in denial!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRSSsNbF29I