Christmas 2022/New Year 2023

 

It’s Epiphany, so it’s time to pack things up and reflect.

 

I saw so many posts this year about people feeling blah about the holidays. I felt it too. The world is in such a state that it’s easy to get depressed and focus on the negative. You gotta be strong to see the positive in things. One thing that really made me change my attitude was a post on Facebook by Donna Ashworth:

 

“Before you roll your eyes or judge the early-Christmas-decorators, let me tell you how dangerous the dark months can be to those with rocky mental health. Let them bring in more light. Let them do what they need to do to feel something. Let them be, in the here and now, seizing the moment, doing no harm to anyone. They are, quite simply, lighting up their darkness and creating joy where none exists.  How wonderful. How wonderful.”

 

That truly resonated with me. After reading that, every time I passed by a house with tons of blow-up Christmas stuff, I thought, “Good for you!” I don’t care if you have Rudolph next to Santa next to the Grinch next to a unicorn next to a huge metal rooster. Yes, I said rooster. A house up the street had that. I loved it. Thought about stealing it. Decided that was a bad thing to do at Christmas time…and they are available for $40 at Tractor Supply. Maybe next year…

 

In that vein, here is what I might hand in if I had to write an essay for school about “My Christmas Vacation.”

 

First of all, there was baklava this year at Walmart!!! I really b****ed about not being able to find it last year. I found one of the small packaged fruit cakes (which I really love…don’t judge) but no baklava. This year I got baklava, but no fruitcake. Baklava trumps fruitcake anyway. And I was a VERY good girl and did NOT get a second tray of it.

 

Marv and I were on our own for Christmas Eve, so for dinner before the church service, we went to Jack in the Box for grilled sourdough sandwiches and curly fries. SO greasy! SO good! We hadn’t been to JITB for years.

 

Christmas Day, Sarah and Lia came up and took me down to Fresno for a week. I was introduced to the series The Witcher on Netflix. Great story line! Terrible language! Apparently most of the actors couldn’t speak unless there were plenty of “F” words in the dialog. They could’ve done the series cleaner in the language and it would not have detracted from the story.

We also watched the series Wednesday. THAT was very enjoyable and the language was fine. I truly hope that they come up with a second season for it. New Year’s Eve we watched Love and Monsters, which was a fun movie.

 

Two awesome takeaways from this visit: whipped cream on raisin toast and Bird Dog flavored whiskey. Sarah regularly keeps a can of whipped cream in the fridge for coffee, hot chocolate, etc. I was the one who tried it on raisin toast and was delighted. The 2 little airline-sized whiskey bottles were from Sarah’s boss. One was Black Cherry, the other was Blackberry. Wonderful in hot tea! Also smooth enough for a sipping whiskey. I had never heard of the Bird Dog brand. I’ll have to see what a regular size bottle costs the next time I’m near BevMo.

 

So Happy New Year. Blessings to all. Read Romans 8:28, Proverbs 3:5-6, John 14:27, Philippians 4:4 and John 16:33 every day. It will help.