Sunday, December 17, 2017

holiday ebb and flow


















This season, it is so full of beautiful ideas and traditions.
It is much too short to fit in everything that I would like to do though.
I always plan far to many handmade Christmas gifts.
     Then there are the Christmas cards. I hadn't sent Christmas cards in years and decided it was time.

I actually really wanted to send them this year. I imagined myself thoughtfully writing out cards at my desk with a cup of coffee, adding a family picture, and popping them in the mail. The reality was a card writing frenzy... not as thoughtful as planned and dropping huge stacks of cards at the post office. Sigh. BUT I did get almost 100 cards out before Christmas and I feel pretty proud. I remember now, why I never do Christmas cards. We have A LOT of family. I didn't even get everybody... just the ones I already had addresses for.
 I am glad I did the cards. I realize now that the years I choose to do this I need to start in November. Christmas cards bring me so much joy. It feels good to finally return some of that good feeling. Even if it was a bit rushed and done with less love than planned.

     This month brought us a long streak of dry, sunny weather. So, my husband and his very close friend decided to tackle a humongous project that has been on our to do list for many years. 
Rebuild the backyard shed and make it into a little house. A summer house/guest house/shared family space. It's full purpose is still yet to be defined. It was definitely interesting timing. The project has moved along quite nicely. I am amazed at their progress in just two short weeks.

      Our puppy is quickly becoming a dog. I knew it would happen this fast but have still found myself surprised. I am really enjoying her grown-up self. She fits in so perfectly here. I was looking at pictures of last Christmas and noticed that we had a different dog in front of our tree. I find it all a bit bitter sweet. I am sad that it didn't work out for us to keep Ezra, but I am so glad that we have Tobin now. 

4 comments:

  1. Your photos are so magical and peaceful. It seems you are handling the stress of the season better than I (see my latest post for details). Christmas cards are always my favorite part of the season. This year I'm way behind schedule, so I decided to send them after Christmas. Plus I can get a good picture of the fam in our Christmas clothes...which reminds me, I need to go shopping some more. Ahhhhh.

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  2. i love to do christmas cards, but skipped it both last year and this year. in fact, this year i didn't even make a single batch of cookies. wow. i did make a lot of handmade presents, and i was happy that was accomplished, but i still feel like i stressed and ran out of time. alas. i guess we get to keep trying year after year! what exciting projects. i love your photos, everything about them, from the kitty asleep on the boxes under the desk, to the beautiful bokeh tree lights behind your sleeping pup.

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  3. I'm really beginning to embrace the sending of cards now, too~ I only ordered 30 and had to really think about who to send them off to (if I attempted to start in with aunts and uncles and cousins, between our two families that would easily have been most of them right there!) and enjoyed sitting down and writing messages out on the backs of each of them. (which was doable with a smallish overall #).

    looks like a lot of goodness going on. your Tobin looks so sweet and adorable~
    cheers and happy new year!

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  4. Blessings in this new year! May 2018 bring all good things to you and yours. You have a great blog.

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