"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"

This year, for a bunch of different reasons, Christmas prep for my family just hasn't been anywhere close to the norm.  Collectively, we just don't seem to have our usual Christmas spirit and enthusiasm.  Now here it is Christmas Eve, and we are about out of time.  The Christmas Eve festivities are set to begin around 6:00 pm this evening, which means we have about 10 hours left to make our surroundings at least, look and feel like Christmas.  This will be a challenge!

A couple of weeks ago Ratchlet, MtG, and I were out for the evening for one of our regular Christmas shopping expeditions.  We were feeling particularly uninspired and basically felt all we were doing was feeding the commercialism of Christmas that has gotten out of hand....buying "things" that cost too much, were not particularly meaningful, and wouldn't do much of anything to bring joy.  This has come about over the years to the point that we felt it was completely over the top and not worth the effort!

We decided to try to limit our extravagance and focus more on changing the way we celebrate to bring about more feelings of sharing, loving, and the happiness of being with our family.  

We have put up no outside decorations and hardly any inside decorations.  We are putting up just the small white tree and a few easily accessible Christmas favorites.  We have chosen a local charity and made a contribution of something needed.  We have reduced the number of gifts we give each other.  We have scaled back the food we share.  We are adding in some new things that might help us feel more of the Season's "good parts."

These are all good things and will hopefully, give us some Christmas memories that will make this a great Christmas.

This will be MtG's first Christmas without Santa.  Mikey and I as well as Ratchlet, TA, and MtG will be spending Christmas Day together at their house and we will try some different things.  

Despite all our efforts to cut back and focus on the things that make Christmas the special holiday it should be,  I haven't started to "feel" it yet.  At this point, with a bunch of things left to do, I'm struggling against my general feelings of Grinchdom.  So far, it still feels like a lot of work to be done.  Various frustrations abound.  There are people we love, miss and wish we could see, but we are separated by uncontrollable circumstances.  Nevertheless, their absence leaves a gaping hole in the midst of what should be a joyous celebration.

So yes, Mr. Grinch has inserted his mean little heart into our Christmas this year and I have 10 hours to kick him to the curb and find that Christmas Spirit that is sorely lacking so far.

Our Christmas shake-up might result in one huge Christmas failure or it could turn out to be the best Christmas ever.....but if nothing else, we will still be together with most of the people we love best in this world, and that is where we always find joy!

I hope that Mr. Grinch doesn't intrude on your Christmas and that each of you enjoys the happiness, celebration, and peace that we all seek at Christmas.

Merry  Christmas, my dear friends.  Thank you for visiting so faithfully over the years.  May your holiday be filled with love!