Wednesday, December 23, 2009

When Christmas Jumps the Tracks


Is your Christmas train rolling along on schedule or veering out of control?
If you're like me, you have this beautiful idea in your head of all the things your family must do together before you can check the box that a nice Christmas was had by all.
Things like decorating gingerbread houses...

Check.
Or decking the halls, (check) or taking a drive to see the lights. (Check, even though somebody in our car got grouchy.)
Sometimes I'm so in the throws of getting all these things organized that I end up doing something stupid. Yey for stupidity, because it stops me in my tracks and forces me to S L O W down and remember what Christmas is really for.

What stupidity, you ask?
Last night I spent forty five minutes trying to find gifts for the kids that I had hidden entirely too well. I did finally find them, thank goodness.
But my Super Big Stupid Thing of 2009 happened on Monday. At at the hour we were supposed to be sitting in the cold roasting marshmallows and having the grand solstice celebration I had bragged about on Monday, I was a twisted mess on my bed, trying not to faint or throw a fit while my husband tried for an hour and a half to get a splinter out of my right pointer finger. I got it in a mad rush to cross one more thing off my To Do list. I was just going to clean the extra leaf of our dinning room table and rammed a splinter of veneer into my flesh. I'm not a good patient and it really hurt, but my sweet husband is an incredibly patient man. I'm so thankful for him.
So after it was out, I sat on the bed, held my poor finger, and watched Christmas movies. And you know what? People showed up and sat with me. It was just what I needed.

We moved solstice to Tuesday night.
It was a roaring success!


The s'mores were worth the wait.

Now on to other things...
I love that Christmas is full of surprises. (Though I'd be glad to stick to the happy ones. No splinters, please.)
I got a big surprise yesterday!
I entered a little contest over at thepioneerwoman.com on Monday (before the splinter) and guess what! I won a $250 gift card!! Whoo hoo! Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman herself, randomly picked my name. Do you know Ree? I've known her from way back (okay, maybe a couple of years) before she published her cookbook and got all famous, jet setting to appear on TV with Paula Deen and Bonnie Hunt. The cookbook looks great, doesn't it?

Thank you, Ree!
Are you feeling lucky? She's got a couple more drawings this week. Why not enter? And while you're there, explore her blog a little. She's great at keeping life real, showing the dirty dishes along with the gorgeous food.

Today I'm happy that Christmas comes whether our house is in magazine style perfection or life is a royal mess.
Have a wonderful Wednesday, y'all!
Love, Becky

11 comments:

ToddR said...

I love the song. Like "Charlie Brown Christmas" it has a bit of melancholy somewhere thrown in. Perfect.

Anonymous said...

Uff! A splinter! That's not fair! I'm glad you slowed down and had fun anyway, though. Merry Christmas, Rebecca! Enjoy your new cookbook!

Susie said...

wow! you have been a busy girl! congrats on the win! Now I can be jealous of you and not pioneer woman! I too and trying to remember what this is all about and not feel too despondent at the needlie floors, cookie fingerprints on the walls and wrapped, but unadorned presents. Hugs, Susie

Kat said...

Oh yes. That is definitely me. I need to let go of having an "ideal" Christmas and just let Christmas happen.
Great post!
And have a Merry Christmas!

Jamie @ Bungalow Bee said...

Oooh, I hate splinters. They're worse than paper cuts.

Congrats on your win! I entered the same contest although I never win...I mean tens of thousands of people enter - how crazy! :)

Merry Christmas!

Susan Tuttle said...

Merry Christmas to you and yours!!:))

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

I hate splinters, the stinkin' little boogers! Your traditions look fun and what memory makin! You and your family have a very Merry Christmas.

God bless ya'll!!!

paris parfait said...

Merry Christmas to you and yours! xo

Susan said...

You have my sympathies with the splinter. I hate those things. Congrats on the win and Merry, Merry Christmas!

judy in ky said...

So the Pioneer Woman's prizes really are real! I have entered every one of her contests and have never won a thing. Congratulations on your win!

a Tonggu Momma said...

I am so excited that you won! I would be jealous, but I think the splinter cancels things out a bit. Hope y'all had a merry Christmas!