…and we are back!

Time for the holidays! Time for family. Time for presents. Time for food. Time for …whose kidding who? Every Christmas, the holiday music speaks of calm, joy, peace, and how “I’ll be home for Christmas” in smooth jazzy tones when the reality is we all spend our holiday frantic.

So, we live in a culture that runs this way. If you truly want to escape the “frantic” - move to cold winderness of Canada. Trying to exist in “frantic” and yet take in the calm, joy, peace is our challenge this year.

Here are a couple ways we are going to do this:

1. I am sick of trying to buy stuff for those family members who don’t need another thingy. So, I am going to write a few letters to family members (like grandparents) who don’t need another box of Tony Packo’s Pickles or some cheap trinket - sharing with them a favorite memory or moment of the past.

2. Now that my brother and sister have full time jobs…what can I buy (and afford) to get them that they want/need and haven’t already bought themselves. Right!? So, instead we will plan a family dinner out where my parents, my sibblings (and their spouces) head out to a nice dinner instead of buying more stuff for each other where we will spend 2-3 hours together enjoying good eat, good drink, and each other.

So, what will you do this holiday? Any other ideas?