Dear Thanksgiving, it’s not you-it’s me

I know I just posted about the Christmas loving fool that I am being patient, thankful and enjoying Thanksgiving before jumping straight to Christmas. My willpower is waning. I feel the strength to acknowledge and enjoy Thanksgiving before Christmas slipping through my fingers and is almost a faint memory. It’s been six days since that post and I don’t think I’ll make it. I purchased some Christmas gifts this morning and suddenly my heart is singing…”here comes Santa Claus.” I’ve not decorated yet for Christmas. I’ve not purchased any new Christmas home decorations, but when we had our first snow this week I cracked down completely and listened to Christmas music and it was wonderful and I don’t regret it. My Mom has been jabbing me on FB with posts like, “Decorating for Christmas early doesn’t mean I’m forgetting Thanksgiving. I just like to be Holly Jolly for more than 25 days. Get off my back.” I saw that as my window, so welcome to my first official post for Christmas

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This morning washing my hair and working on becoming fully awake I started to make a mental list of what all needed to get done at work today. I organized this mental list putting tasks in order from high importance to low importance of what needed to get done. Then my brain immediately went to Christmas gifts, Christmas baking, and Christmas wrapping. I love to wrap presents. I love to pick out paper, ribbon and bows. On my weekends spent in Hartley at my Granddaddy and Grandma Millers, my Granddaddy kept all his newspapers, so I’d roam around the house with a newspaper and tape in hand and wrap whatever I could find. I have mad wrapping skills as I’ve been practicing most of my life. 

I am about 100% sure that Christmas doesn’t only just bring out the best in me, but it brings out the best in everyone. My heart is full this time of year seeing the kindness, love and happiness that people project. Of all the different facets that Christmas celebrations bring the biggest are the traditions. The traditions of driving through neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights, the tradition of decorating cookies, the tradition of helping Mom put up her Christmas tree while listening to Christmas music and Dad directing us from his recliner. I can get lost in the traditions. My own personal traditions include watching ELF while putting up my Christmas tree. Working on a Christmas puzzle throughout the season. I also enjoy shopping and carefully selecting Christmas cards.

One specific food tradition is pickle roll-ups. Quick story on pickle roll-ups. These are a Lenz family Christmas staple. They are dill pickles wrapped in ham with a nice layer of cream cheese in-between. You ask any of my cousins about Lenz Christmas food and they will say pickle roll-ups. When I moved back to Amarillo and had my first Christmas at my new job we had a potluck and I brought pickle roll-ups with a little story explaining the importance of these at my family gatherings. One of the women I worked with now makes them at Christmas for her family and at all the future Christmas potlucks I was always asked to bring pickle roll-ups. I’ll have to continue the tradition and introduce pickle-roll ups to coworkers here in Dalhart. The silver lining to taking pickle roll-ups to potlucks and unsure if anybody will like them? More for me. Win-win.

I still believe in Santa Clause and most Christmas lovers like myself do too. My Mom always said that “when you stop believing, Santa stops coming” and by gosh I wanted to see what that jolly man put in my stocking! As Shana and I got older and decided not to wake Mom and Dad up at 4am excited about what Santa brought, we’d dump our stocking out on the floor and compare notes. Satisfied we’d hit the jackpot we’d cram it all back in the stocking and return to bed giggling and laughing, waiting for what felt like an acceptable hour to finally wake up Mom and Dad. We had the tradition of sleeping in the same bed in who’s ever room deemed worthy that year. I don’t remember how this got started unless we didn’t want one getting to the loot before the other and decided this was the best way to keep an eye on each other. 

This year is going to be so much more special with the addition of Jasper. Here is my current struggle. Jasper is turning one next month. His birthday is only a short 11 days before Christmas. This year may still be a little lost on him as he’s not really aware that it’s Christmas. However, Aunt Shell Shell is struggling with being realistic in her gift buying verses going completely over board with toys and gadgets that he will be inundated with during this time. I try and remind myself when I find a toy that I think he can’t live without, that he indeed can live without it and be just fine. This Aunt thing can be tricky as I truly believe he needs everything his little heart desires. His parents may think otherwise. Jasper loves his bananas so when I feed him if he doesn’t like what’s on the menu, I am going to give him a banana. When Shana tells me “Shelly you need to feed him the other stuff.” Why? I’m not his mom, I’m his Aunt. This Christmas could easily turn into the equivalent of me feeding him the banana.

In general I do not watch the Hallmark Channel. I find their movies corny and too lovey dovey-touchy feely. This is the exact opposite at Christmas time. I find them adorable, completely realistic and the more lovey dovey-touchy feely the better. I can binge on Hallmark Christmas movies. During non-Christmas time I’d give a Hallmark movie an eye roll or grunt, BUT at Christmas time they get a twinkled eye and cheesy grin. When you then add 25 Days of Christmas that ABC Family (Freeform, whatever that channel is called) does…. Forget. About it. I am like a kid in the toy store that their parents tell them they can get one toy and the poor kid has a meltdown about what toy to get. I experience that meltdown about what Christmas program I am going to watch and if I made the right choice (over dramatization, but the struggle can be real).

All jokes aside these are a few reasons I love this time of year the way I do. I believe in the magic Christmas holds and brings with all my heart. The emotions that can overwhelm me during midnight mass at Christmas shows the truly heartfelt love I have for everything this holiday represents. I find my smile is bigger, my heart fuller and my attitude toward everything is sunny and sparkly. Just typing this has me bouncing and smiling at the screen like a crazy person. I could continue on about Christmas, but I need to leave something to write about between now and the actual big day.

-Have a happy merry day!