Ungrinching Bliss

Christmas starts way too early in America with stores putting out decorations and doodads earlier and earlier each year. This year the earliest siting in my area was August when I happened to be in Hobby Lobby and they were already setting out the aisle of Christmas decorations. When I was a child, there were very set "rules" for when holiday merchandise was to be unveiled. School supplies made their first appearance in late July, Halloween costumes showed up in the stores early in October, Turkeys and assorted Thanksgiving goodies made their appearance right after Halloween, and Christmas showed up the day after Thanksgiving.

I typically don't buy into the corporate guilt to buy buy buy until sometime after Thanksgiving and then I start thinking that maybe I'd better start buying Christmas presents. The first presents are typically bought grudgingly as I see something in the store and buy it because if I don't, I'll never get my shopping done. My first shopping painful as I think about how many presents I have to buy, do some mental bitching because I'm always the one doing the shopping, and keep a mental tally to make sure that everyone gets treated equally.

This year the first gifts were the expensive ones as Sean and John got Cliqs for Christmas and because I can never keep a secret for long, they ended up getting them before the holidays. I bought Caitlin a few little things because after all I had to get her something if I was getting the boys something even though I knew exactly what her main present was going to be and had budgeted for it.

I managed to avoid the holiday insanity for the first few weeks of the season and then something clicked like it does every year and the joy of giving overwhelmed me. Buying presents started to feel like less of a chore and more of a joy. Instead of thinking about having to buy presents, I started thinking about the joy of giving and about how much I hoped my loved ones would like the things I was giving for them.

Oddly enough it is the little presents and stocking stuffers that I always buy with the most joy. The big presents are the hardest ones because there is so much money at stake and all too often too many expectaitons that they have to be perfect. With the secondary gifts, it's easier to take risks and buy the gifts that you think are perfect, but that might not be.

It's easy to buy someone a new phone or a new computer, but it's harder to think about things that will bring people joy. I took some time today to explore the second hand stores and speciality stores for stocking stuffers that were meaningful. I found Caitlin an adorable gift at a second hand store (can't say what it is becuase she reads my blog), got Sean some cool stuff at the dollar store, and spent hours searching through bookstores to find a Celtic Woman CD for John (it's okay, I wussed and gave it to him early). None of these thinks cost a lot of money, but they're all meaningful gifts from the heart.

The grinch has been replaced with the bliss of giving in my heart as I think about the joy that my gifts will bring my family and about the joy that their joy will bring me. What could be more perfect?

Breakfast Bliss

My daughter was scheduled to go in at 10 this morning and not her usual 6 am so she suggested we go out to breakfast at the little diner across the street from the bakery where she works. We headed up to the diner and settled ourselves in a booth by the counter, where our waitress some came by to ask us what' we'd like to drink. We ordered our drinks and then looked up at the menu board to decide what we wanted for breakfast. Cat decided on the cheese omelet and I ordered the french toast with a side of ham.

Looking around the restaurant, I realized this wasn't a place that would ever win five stores from Michelin, but that had woven itself into the fabric of the community. The 15 boothes were all filled with locals talking about their plans for the upcoming holidays and making predictions about the weather. The counters were filled with holiday decorations ranging from Santas to Naivety scenes and with homey touches like ceramic touches. The waitresses were kept hopping as they went from table to table topping of coffee and checking on their customers. Although our waitress was clearly a Northerner, her "hons" and "sugars" would have done the best Southern waitresses proud.

We whiled away the time waiting for our food talking about the future, chores to be done, and Cat's upcoming graduation. Cat's current plan is to go to UIC and share an apartment with her brother Sean. She's been nervous about going away to collage and the thought of sharing an apartment with her brother eases her mind as it means she won't be all alone in a strange town and she'll be close to home in case she needs us.

When our drinks were almost done, our food arrived and we settled down to enjoy the good home cooking. My french toast was dosed with butter and cinnamon sugar and cooked to perfection. The ham was tender and tasty and Cat's omelet was filled with just the right amount of choose.

We finished our food and I excused myself to use the ladies room and when I came back Cat told me that she'd paid the bill and I could leave the tip. I was filled with prideful bliss at the responsible and caring young woman my daughter was becoming. It was so wonderfully unexpected to be treated to breakfast that it put a smile on my face all day.

Snow White Bliss

We had our first real, stick to the ground, snowstorm overnight so we woke up and everything was coated with a beautiful white coating. The trees are laced with fairy dust and all the imperfections of the yard are covered with a beautiful white coating. Maggie, our Magnolia tree, looks especially beautiful with her lacy dress of white.

Our dog, Luke, absolutely hates the rain, but he loves going out and running around and playing psycho puppy in the snow. He goes out and grabs mouthfuls of it and runs crazily around the yard. The snow reenergizes him and makes him feel like a puppy again. Dogs aren't the only ones for whom snow brings out the inner child. Going outside and seeing the white wonderland, I feel the wonder of childhood snow days when snow was something to get excited about and not something to curse because it made commutes harder.

The adult in me knows that snow means the roads will be slippery, commutes will take longer, and it will be cold outside, but the child in me wants to just run and play in the snow like I did when I was a kid and we had a snowday. Snowdays are what every Northern child prays for: a day off to do nothing but play in the snow and drink hot chocolate.

Southerners might think that all snow is the same, but those of us who hail from Northern climates know that there are two primary types of snow: snowball snow and blizzard snow. Snowball snow is thick and dense, just right for snowball fights and snowmen. It tends to stick to the ground and no matter how much wind you get, it stays right where it is. Blizzard snow on the other hand is finer in texture and can be set aloft at the slightest hint of a breeze. We get plenty of blizzard snow in the North and when Blizzard snow is blowing, we all curl up in our houses with good books, good friends, and, if we're lucky, a fireplace.

I grew up in the Chicago area and in the middle of winter, I always swear I'm going to move to a warmer climate where the winters aren't so cold. However, deep down, I'm a Chicago girl at heart and there's something to be said for the white wonderland that snow creates and the opportunity to blissfully snuggle in front of a fireplace with someone I love.

Anonymous Bliss

Christmas time brings out the best in humanity as everyone seems a little more concerned about taking care of their fellow man. Some folks give with big showy displays, but the best and most meaningful gifts are those given anonymously and symbolically to help those less fortunate. A quick spin around the web this week, revealed anonymous givers whose gifts have inspired others to give to those less fortunate.

Mysterious Pete has become a legend to the staff at the Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center in Evansville, IN. Every year around Christmas he hides a donation somewhere on the property and then phones the staff with a hint as to where to find his gift. This year's gift was a miniature Christmas tree with 30 $100 bills attached. Over the years Pete's given over $65,000 to the center and although the staff has garnered a few clues about who he might be, they prefer to let his identity remain a mystery so as not the thrill he gets out of giving anonymously.

The tradition of gold coins being dropped anonymously in Chicago Salvation Army buckets continued this year when holiday workers found gold coins worth $1,200 wrapped inside bills and dropped inside the red buckets. The tradition of someone dropping gold coins into Salvation Army buckets in the Chicago area dates back to 1982 and the coins have included Kugerrands and other golden coins. The tradition has spread to other areas and this year gold coins have been dropped in buckets in Philadelphia, Indiana, and Florida.

In another story, an anonymous woman showed up at a Salvation Army and started handing out $20 bills to people who were waiting in line for food vouchers. When she ran out of cash, she went to the ATM to get more money to hand out. Although this lady gave in person and ran the risk of not being so anonymous, she meets the criteria because she was giving from the heart and refused to tell anyone who she was.

Interestingly enough, there was an excellent article at the TriValley Dispatch about Secret Santas and how their anonyomous gifts add to the mystery of the season. Giving should be about the joy of seeing someone's face light up and not about the glory that comes with giving big gifts. Take some time this year and see if you can't make someone's burden a little bit lighter by being their Secret Santa. I promise that if you do, you'll experience amazing bliss.

Crackberry-less Bliss

My Blackberry died over the weekend and it took a couple of days for my replacement to arrive. As soon as it died, I was overcome with anxiety as I wasn't exactly sure how to behave without my constant connection to the outside world. What was I going to do with myself if I couldn't salivate like Pavlov's dog every time the little red light came on signifying that I was important because someone else who also has no life (sorry, no offense) was also working over the weekend and sending me emails.

I plugged into the house charger and all I got was a black screen and blinking red lights that promised so much but delivered so little. The car charger was no better and the lights mocked me as if they knew that I was frantic over the thought that someone might be trying to reach me and I was inaccessible. I tried taking the battery out and putting it back in, but no luck. While it was on the car charger, every stop sign I'd reach over and push the on button hoping that somehow it had magically been resuscitated and now was going to work. No luck no matter how long I left the button pushed in.

Getting out of the car, I put it in my pocket by habit hoping that somehow being close to me would make it realize how much I needed my crackberry fix. No luck, my body heat did not magically reinvigorate my poor dead little crackberry. I choked back the tears and realized that somehow, I would have to be strong and go on without my little friend and that whoever was frantically trying to get ahold of me would have to wait until I was accessible via those most ancient of tools: a laptop and a landline.

As the day wore on, I found myself reaching in my pocket less and less as I slowly accepted that I was going to be Crackberry-less until at least Monday. Suddenly work didn't seem so important as I surveyed the world outside of the crackberry and realized that there were many beautiful things in the world that didn't come on a two by three screen. I thought to myself that I should take a picture of these wonders to always remind myself that life is more than a Crackberry. I reached inside my pocket and then I remembered that not only could I not get email or phone calls, I also couldn't take pictures and send them instantly to my friends.

I sank to my knees in the snow (okay, this is a slight exaggeration) as the horror of it all sank in and I realized that life would not be the same until that 133 gram wonder of modern technology was once again back in my pocket tethering me to the my friends, family, work, twitter, etc. etc. etc.

Okay, now that you've read my horror story, I have to confess that after the first day or so I really did get used to not having constant access to my email and phone and felt a strange kind of bliss at knowing that I was disconnected. It was actually harder to live without the camera as I'd gotten used to being able to snap pictures of the kids, things I wanted to blog about, or the dog instantly. So even though there were some blissful disconnected moments, I 'm feeling much more blissful now that my crackberry is back in my pocket.