From PSL's to Resolutions

As soon as I see a pumpkin in a store, I start to panic about how long winter will be. The dread of January-March sets in before I purchase my first Pumpkin Spice Latte (just kidding, I actually don't like PSLs - don't hate mail me.) 

In the summer, when I (re)established my early morning running routine, I would come home and tell my husband how I was dreading the dark, cold mornings (enter now) and how I just wanted it to always be light out and warm. (I may have settled in the wrong climate, but I can't afford San Diego and I think it's the only place that fits the bill.)

Planning ahead is a big part of who I am. I like to have things tied up in a bow, ready to step into them seamlessly. (Ask my friends how well I handled our surprise second child.) So when something I look forward to is actually here, like the Christmas season or beautiful summer days, I actually almost miss it because I'm worried about what to look to next. 

It's okay, you can say it. I need to learn to live in the moment and enjoy what I have when I have it. 

I'm not completely hopeless. Right now, I'm loving the Christmas decorations and music and it truly is just the most wonderful time of the year (though I'm considering long, mild summer days as competing for the title.)  But the closer the holiday hustle comes, the more I find myself searching for things beyond it to look forward to, and the more I say things to myself like, "I refuse to let the funk of January and February seep into my holiday season!"

So I am fighting the funk. I am enjoying the season. I am wrapping presents, blaring Celine Dion's Slight Night, keeping the tree lights on all day, baking cookies, and trying my DARNEDEST to remember the Advent calendar.

Because there is just something about holidays with kids that shouldn't be missed. They bring an infectious joy that can't be matched. There's nothing like watching your little realize that they get an obscene amount of presents and sugar to celebrate Jesus' birthday. And in my family, you can tack on roughly a dozen December birthday parties to go along with it. 

(This year my daughter has requested a kitty cat ice cream cake, so.... suggestions on where I can get my hands on one of them are welcome.)

When the holiday fun and sugar rushes wear off, when January rolls around and the gyms are packed with cheater-cheater-pumpkin-eaters, and all that lies ahead are days of snow and ice and much less nice... my resolution will be to find the nice in the now. Be present after the presents, if you will. Because even after Christmas, long before the long summer days, surely January to March has something to offer... (TBD)

...stay tuned for my next blog post. A fun play on "Twas the night before Christmas"