jo burgess hannon

fit for today, fit for life

Stockings hung by the fire

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christmas mantel

The stockings are hung and all through the house not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. Well that’s not true. We have been busy shopping, wrapping, menu planning and filling the fridge with food. Come Christmas morning we will wake up to a house full of kids, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and participate in stocking gifts, prizes and treats.  Some years a paper grocery bag has serves the purpose if we have guest in need of a stocking. (That reminds me: I better ask for paper my next grocery trip instead of bringing my own bags or we will end up with no back up plan!)  It is always a fun, goofy time with many little traditions.  There is always a can a Pringles in my stocking.  Not sure how that started, but I do love those salty, pressed snacks. By mid-morning the can has been passed around and comes back empty.  Apparently others love ’em as much as me.

One stocking stuffer that has had years of staying power, was a give away from a doctors convention. Gary, my dad-in-law, used to attend an annual conference to keep his pathology skills up to date. It was always in early December and he would come away with a bag of stuff that we would end up seeing Christmas morning. There were always pens and notepads and various other  items.  Some were useful, others totally silly. However, a drug company gave all the docs one year what was my original sticky note pop up holder. This might have been the beginning of my sticky note addiction.

As we move toward December 25, 2015 I want to take this time to wish each and everyone of you a merry Christmas.  I am grateful for this opportunity to share a piece of my life with you.  Thank you.

my first pop up sticky note dispenser
my first pop up sticky note dispenser

What can you cross off your to-do list?

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Mr. Flexible, my mantra reminder
Mr. Flexible, my mantra reminder

 

I recently took a trip to beautiful, sunny Florida.  When I made plans in September it sounded like such a good idea; warm, bright weather and leaving the dark rainy days of December behind for a week.  Reality is it can be pretty stressful to come home to a long list and 10 days of houseguests soon coming and going through the door.

I like to plan ahead and am most happy when I feel I know what I need to do, what the schedule is going to be and have a clear plan.  Life doesn’t work that way though, does it?  By the time the sunglasses were packed and on the way to the airport I had crossed many Christmas to-do’s off my list.  But not because I had completed them. I crossed them off because they just weren’t as important as enjoying relaxing days at the beach.  I crossed them off because time with people are more important than fancy food, lights strung to the rooftop and giving handmade gifts.

As the emails came in and Honey let me know we were having more family arrive than planned and a day earlier than planned, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “ok, we can make that work.” I used to have to re-center my attitude by whispering to myself, ‘I am flexible, I am flexible, I am flexible.’ It has become a personal mantra over the years.  People are more important than fancy food, lights strung to the rooftop and giving handmade gifts.  I can let the plans change and enjoy life or I can stress that things are not going my way.

So there might be a gift or two given in February when I get the project done and if you are expecting a Christmas card from our family this year, it isn’t coming. By being flexible & open to plans changing, my dining room table was filled last night with family and laughs and conversation as we passed the salad and soup. And isn’t that more important than anything else on the list?