Holidays

I have mixed emotions about the holidays.  It’s all about expectations. I try to keep mine in check.

The Good:  My workplace is closed for a week.  Although I love my job, there is no need for the alarm clock. Not having to drag myself out of bed in a pitch-black house at 6:00 a.m. is a huge plus. 

I love Christmas music. We saw a wonderful production of Handel’s Messiah earlier this month. Now we listen to carols non-stop.

Although our family is elsewhere (We had everyone for Thanksgiving.) good friends include us in their celebrations.

The Bad:  Our family is elsewhere.

It’s a good time to think about others.  So many people have so little compared to us.  We open our checkbooks and give to our favorite charities.  We buy gifts that benefit good causes.

And we count our blessings.

Happy Holidays.

Comments

[Marilena Aquino de Muro]

Dear Judy, I'm enjoying reading your blogs! Are you Seth's mom? I've found your son while browsing the NYT travel section, in the middle of a night I had insomnia. He is adorable! Although he is so busy working and has so many emails to read & reply, he did reply mine, and from time to time he retweets my tweets! Internet is fun, isn't it? Well, I wish you a very happy time over the new year celebrations, and a very blessed 2013! Marilena
P.S.-your son was one plus for 2012, and I wonder if I could crown my finding by meeting him in person in 2013 next time he is in São Paulo.

[SusanG]

We also spent Christmas without company, but it wasn't bad. Actually it was nice and relaxing...except for all the traditional Ukranian food that we ate for the next four days.

It started when Christmas Eve at our house was cancelled at the last minute due to a stomach virus that hit four family members in two different families. We finally had everyone over on New Year's Day.

Years ago we ended up with no Christmas Day plans, so we drove over to Washington Crossing Park and watched the re-enactment of George Washington's 1776 Christmas Day crossing of the Delaware River. It was an opportunity we wouldn't normally have had and it was amazing how many people were there from other countries.