KEEPIN' CHRISTMAS REAL(ISTIC) BETWEEN NAPS AND NYQUIL...

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!
-Author Unknown-

This week I am joining Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Christmas. And Wow, what a week it was! Before we get into the heart of this post, which really is the Christmas that almost isn't, I thought I'd give you an update of the great tree debacle. I am proud to announce that my mouse eaten tree has been replaced by the man of the house but not without a hitch or two.I finally located a sale in a nearby town and had Handy Hubby drive my semi-sick self to get the tree. We checked to make sure it was the proper height and all the info. matched the sale tag and purchased the tree. I decided to set it up and at least plug it in so I could enjoy the lights from my sick bed on the sofa, that's when I discovered our error. The twinkling white lights were not white but bright splashes of color, thinking I must be sicker than I thought if I could not distinguish white from bright color, must be the NyQuil, disheartened I put it back in the box and crashed on the couch.

The next day sweet Handy Hubby made the hour round trip to exchange the tree for me. I managed to pot it and plug it in only to notice that the lights look skimpy, so, there it sits all unadorned until I can recover a bit more and find my extra lights in storage to twinkle it up a bit.I was so very excited when this season started and just like Santa I made a list and checked it twice and much to my delight no one had been naughty, except for the mice! You might say that Christmas is off to a slow roll here, everything and I mean everything is being done between naps and NyQuil still. The pumpkins finally tossed themselves off the table into a basket and said that enough was enough, get on to the Christmas stuff!Where to start...Christmas Cards! Need to get them in the mail early so an assembly line was formed and crafting commenced. In two days I had them all ready to assemble, card/ornament bases...Triangle trees...Stacked in big red bowl as pretty as you please...And then I was assaulted with the first sneeze! Ignoring the warning I went straight back to work filling red and green bowls with Christmas cheer...Dodads and bobbles lay by their side, ready to embellish when the time arrived...exactly when that is going be is hard to say, maybe these will get mailed out for the next Christmas years day!

I pushed on through thinking that there was still the decorating to do. The tree needed a theme and companion, pitiful offerings, an old dirty crate and skates from a hopeful champion...Maybe I should hang a wreath or two between the sneezes, kerchew! Maybe not, I needed a nap, my energy was gone, drained, and sapped. They look nice here, they really do unless you want to play a game of checkers or two...From my horizontal view, the mantle looked like something I could do. Just a bit of garland fluffed into place, in my allotted three inch space. (That is how much is left after Handy Hubby stuck his big TV up there, yes, I am still in mourning about this missing mantle space. I know its been three years, I really should give it a rest.) Speaking of resting I made it as far as across the room to the chair. The garland looks kind of nice clumped there...Back to the sofa I fell with a thump, kind of huffy and a bit of a grump. After a short nap, into my creative powers I thought I would tap. A bag full of goodies from Dollar Tree, a custom made instrumental CD, and a few supplies from the studio were all I would need. They made it as far as the other chair and sadly they are still piled there... Back to the nap that lasted a night time, hopeful that a new day would bring health and not decline. Since the pumpkins had abandoned their post, I attempted to replace them with a little winter scene, simple, pretty, and serene...With a little vintage goodness posed at its side, this was all I could manage before I slunk to the couch and cried...This is not Christmas! There is so much to do, finish the shopping and wrapping, assemble the cards and send them on their way, decorating and baking all for Christmas day. Who am I kidding? The only holiday fare here is a delicious Holiday Mold full of mother of pearl buttons, bad for the teeth but oh so yummy...A simple flip of the mold and they are ready to slide out of their container with a delightful glide... Not exactly the edible baking I need to do, but seriously, who would want to partake of things baked between sneeze and kerchew? With the little drummer boy banging his drum in my head, I finally gave up and just went to bed. I awoke to the sound of a trumpeting call, no not the angel (even though I felt like death and all!), but the phone ringing off the wall...Praise be the doctor could see me sooner! Off I sailed to the far side of town for a medicinal remedy to what had me down. A package of pills and a shot in the hip, a wing a prayer that this malady would loose its grip. But wait, there is a tiny bit more to this tale, the shot came with a reaction that quickly assailed. It knotted my muscles, they spasmed and jerked, causing insomnia until it wears off and does its work. I feel much better save the deprivation of sleep. And you know what, the decorating can keep.

Keeping Christmas real(istic) here at the Quill means quietly waiting yielded and still. It's not a bad way for Christmas to arrive, quietly thankful for the one thing complete, the babe in His manger with worshipers at His feet...My fondest wish this year was to keep Christmas in my heart. Perhaps being sick was a perfect place to start. While enduring sickness and pain it made me more aware of the many blessings that fall on me like a heavy rain. Most of my week was spent in prayer, not for myself but others out there, whose symptoms will not quickly go, but, linger and plague them so. Health is a gift that I lay at the feet of the one born in a stable knowing in good time I will once again be able.

I think I learned a good lesson by laying here still...while my home may not be all decked out in holiday decor, my life holds more blessing than my button jar can pour. If I were to string them and wrap them around my tree, not one light or needle would you see. If I were in the garland to twine them, they would be too hearty for my mantle to bear. If I were to assemble them and send them off in the mail, the postmaster would watch in wide eyed wonder at the volume through the slot as they sailed. If I were to wrap them up in a wreath, my door could never bear its girth. If I were to arrange their heft on my table, its legs would become wobbly and unstable. It matters not who got what and what gets done when, its where I am placing my thoughts as all the " must do's" crowd in.

I am counting my blessings, one by one, savoring each one like a bright twinkling light on a tree. I am keeping Christmas in my heart which in turn is keeping me content and happy! Praying your plans and preparations are going according to your schedule and that you too are keeping it real(istic)...but NOT between naps and NyQuil!