Best holiday season ever

Usually around the holidays, I want to retreat to a blanket fort and not emerge until some time after the sun enters Aries. I grumble my way through obligation and chores, feeling put out as the person who has to attend to the details. This year, a string of influences has me in a more joyous mood.
First, I listened to an audio recording of Wayne Dyer's Excuses Be Gone. I made some mental adjustments which were a long time in coming. Not everything has to be difficult. I bought some gift cards this year instead of obsessing over the perfect gift. I stopped pouting every time I needed to bring a covered dish somewhere. I just made easier recipes that used what I had on hand. I don't like having to buy stocking stuffers so we did away with the stockings. In fact, our immediate family is not opening any presents this year. I just started to realize that not everything has to be a chore. Nor does it all have to be my responsibility. I can tell myself a new story about ease.

It has been a rough couple of years, in my mind and on paper. I am ready to embrace some new truths and new joys. One such joy is that our family is planning a trip to England and France. One of the reasons I am reviving this blog is to tell the story of our trip: planning through execution. I am in heaven, just considering the possibilities. I consider myself a great travel planner. Though the reality will only be one week of family togetherness and adventure, the advent of the trip has begun a chain of excitement. Don't get me a diamond necklace. Sorry Kay's --my kiss begins with the Pont Neuf. Even with the knowledge that I will open a very few presents this year, joy abounds.

Vacation

We just returned from vacation. Love vacation. We go to a place that is beyond relaxing for kids and adults. A friend's hilltop retreat in Ohio that is part barn, part spa, part field, part woodlands. The kids have fun playing, frolicking really. This year's pastimes included stargazing, toad catching, birdwatching, hoola hooping, swimming, hiking, treasure hunting, labyrinth walking, fishing, playing water tag with a domesticated deer, picnicking, throwing football, skipping stones, roasting marshmallows, toasting each other with good wine over grand buffets, setting off illegal fireworks, catching lightning bugs, watching the sun go down, hoola dancing (not to be confused with hoola hooping), playing cards, taking pictures, reading, and taking naps. AHHH!
It was most relaxing. But as with all good dreams, the dreamer must awaken to reality. We got home mid-week in time for my daughter to start her rehearsals for the Sound of Music which is pretty much a daily thing until the end of the summer. And then there was the mountain of laundry which we finished at the same time our 16 year old dryer decided to heave its last breath. Speaking of mountains. The Hills Are Alive with baskets of produce! One week plus lots of rain yielded one large mountain of squash. I've been gardening and and baking and processing zucchini ever since. (Apparently you can grate it and freeze it in bags.)
Every year, I try to see how long I can hold onto the vacation magic. Last year, we took home a lot of produce from the garden at Moondance where we stayed. As we ate some of our stash each night with dinner, I pretended to be ingesting that vacation calm. This year we didn't raid the garden, possibly because our own was doing so well. So I guess I lost the vacation magic rather early. But luckily for me, I took about 400 large-file digital photo which take forever to upload to Shutterfly.com where I will turn them into the annual vacation album. So I do get to look at them as I take an entire week to upload them. I remember. I sigh. Even after my new dryer buzzes to tell me that the load is done (a new feature), I pause and offer thanks to our supreme hostess, the good queen Susan, and all the vacation gods. You've given me a screen saver, a load of calming memories, lots of recipes to try at home, and the push to keep going until I can vacation again.