A Belated Merry Christmas.

This blog is long overdue. I should have said "Merry Christmas" to all before the big day.
Christmas is my most favourite time of year. I love giving gifts and watching peoples reactions to them. I love decorating the house and putting up lights. I love shopping for that "just perfect" gift to give. I love the sparle and glitter that comes with Christmas. Sparle is ALWAYS good and you can never have too much of it! Those who know me best know that I love Christmas!
However, this year I was not in a Christmas mood....and am still not in one.
I didn't put up a tree or decorate the house this year. I feel like Mr. Grinch or Mr. Scrooge before the three ghosts visited. Yes, I got lovely gifts given to me. I had a really good Christmas dinner. I was able to buy all but one of the presents that we gave to others, on sale and that should have me beaming! I had a lovely pot luck dinner with our "gang" the Saturday before Christmas and we all laughed all evening. The two gifts that I had given to me at Christmas that I needed to return were returned and re-bought (is that a word?) quickly (in and out of the store withing fifteen minutes) and the replacement gifts were gotten at Boxing Day prices so I got more than the original gift. That in itself was a great feat that I should be gloating over. Hubby John and I spent a lovely Christmas Day with our family and Sarah and John hosted a lovely Christmas dinner.
I have absolutely nothing to complain about but I still am not in a happy, giddy holiday mood. This year money was very tight. Nothing new, but still tighter than ever before. I KNOW IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY! This is easy to say when you have money but when you want to get more that what you can afford it's hard. Not that I wanted anything for myself. NO, NO, NO! It's all about getting things for those you love and for those that have a lot less than you. We were able to make a certain family's Christmas better.....but I wanted to make it GREAT! Next year I will plan ahead and will try to make it happen. I will just pinch more than I did this year. We were able to get our own family most of what they had on their wish lists. Nothing really big and mostly everyday use things or household items and like I said, everything on sale at reduced prices. There are positive happenings in my life that should have me smiling. Our health for both Hubby John and myself is relatively good. Nothing that cannot be taken care of with medication, better eating habits and exercise. All of our children and our grandchild are happy and healthy. There are births of new babies in our extended family to celebrate. Good news of another pregnancy. Family that have been gone too long are moving back to the province. New homes were bought and lots of things that should make me smile are happening in the immediate and extended families.
But there are ongoing major health problems with extended family that weigh on my mind. There is sadness in the death of a close friends husband in November. I worry about something that should be left locked in the closet but is threatening to tumble out, causing hurt, if the door is not secured. I am not sure how to go about locking the door as there doesn't seem to be a key. I know that there is an answer to this problem but right now I can't see it. Lines and edges are blurred. This problem weighs heavy on my mind and I pray for guidance every night. I have no doubt that the answer will come but until it does I will continue to worry about it. Hubby John's business is very slow, as are many others. Thank goodness I have a secure job with partial benefits. I cannot imagine what it would be like if I were facing a layoff or worse. Regardless of what the government tries to tell us, we are in a recession. So Hubby John's reduced income is to be expected. If he doesn't get jobs he doesn't get money. He can't make the phone ring so Hubby John and I have and will continue to tighten our belts and will weather this through. That is all we can do. Meanwhile Hubby John has announced that he will get the bathroom back in working order and we will slowly continue work on the house. We had already bought and paid for everything before business started getting slow so this will not be a financial burden for us. Sometimes you wonder why your guardian angel insists that you get this or that when you really don't want to. Let's wait you say...buy it now they whisper...and if you are smart you listen to them. Always, always listen to your guardian angel or as some people call it, your gut instinct. It will always work out best for you if you do! So for Hubby John, having reduced hours is good because he will have time now to finish up projects started on the house. The upstairs bathroom, new flooring that is waiting to be laid and trim to put on. Old carpet in my bedroom to rip up so that beautiful hardwood floor that is under it shines through. Maybe ripping up the carpet in the office as it too has hardwood under it. There are a few more odds and ends jobs to complete too. Not to worry, there is no rush. It will get done when it gets done. Doesn't it always seem that though a door may slam shut there is bound to be an open window somewhere? I really believe this to be true.
But even with the good things that I have, it seems the not-so-good ones have piled up higher. I guess this is why Christmas, which as I said really is my favourite time of year, was not so merry this year. I know, I know. It could have been worse. We are still very blessed and I do thank God every night for those blessings.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I hope that anyone reading this blog had a very Merry Christmas. I hope that Santa was very good to all of you and that the God that you believe in continues to bless and keep you.
On behalf of Hubby John and myself I want to wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and a very healthy and happy New Year in 2009.