Too much Merry Christmas?

Yes, I'm afraid so.  Even for a Christmas Crazy like myself.

When my daughter was about three, we had a birthday party for her.  And another one.  And another one (think friends, Mom's side, Dad's side).  This in addition to a smaller family celebration.  I'll never forget by the time it was over she was clinging to me and crying "No more happy birthday."  Too many parties.

That's kind of what it feels like this year.  With the kids getting older, they have significant others to spend family time with which multiplies the number of times we all have to celebrate Merry Christmas, not wanting to leave anyone out on our list of loved ones, and I have to tell you, I've had too many celebrations.  Don't get me wrong, I love my family - ALL of them, but kids who have already celebrated several times are anxious to get back to their own lives, rich food settling heavy in my stomach - yeah.  I'm done.

On to New Year's.  One party (can't prolong New Year's Eve, now can we?).

Do I sound like a humbug? 

Oh well.  Happy New Year, everyone :-)

The Snow Lay on the Ground

Watching the pictures of the storm that blasted through the East Coast (much more interesting than watching the Bears - they might have been better off to miss their flight after all), its a sign that winter has arrived.  Yesterday was the Winter Solstice, which means the days are getting longer now.  Can I get a yippee?  Some friends of ours throw a solstice party every year, but since they live 200 miles away, we don't usually have the opportunity to go.  Maybe next year . . .

Lots of druidic rituals attached to the solstice times of year, which reminds me to sharpen my research there.  Always wanted to write a druid book.  On my list for the New Year, but for the moment, I think I'm going to take that leap and try my hand at a Christmas story.  Of course no one will want to read a Christmas story in February, or July, but by next Christmas.  Considering the time I will have to polish it up, maybe it will be a welcome relief to some of the drivel I've seen this year.

Already the stores are stocking up for Valentines Day, and Christmas isn't over yet.  A sure sign of the times when they start skipping over Christmas to get to the next holiday.  I thought Christmas was THE holiday to market.  And the news markets are starting to revisit the year 2009 as it comes to a close.  The most fascinating people, the biggest news stories, etc.  For me?  I'm going to enjoy today.

My own pace of life tends to be way too fast so while I have a break from the day job, I'm going to watch the snow fall.  I'm going to bake some bread.  I'm going to watch yet another Christmas movie (because that's what I do this time of year - but I'm going with the classics today).  And then I'm going to watch the snow fall some more as a backdrop while I transcribe the story that is building in my imagination.

Next week I'll set my New Year's goals - after Christmas.  In the meantime, enjoy the peace and love of the season. 

Merry Christmas.

Happy Holidays

Happy Hannukah to my Jewish friends, and Merry Almost Christmas to my Christian friends.

Today is decorating day.  Finally making festive around the house and doing some holiday baking.  With Thanksgiving falling late this year, I feel a little behind, and yet, not.  We have snow on the ground (it came early this year) and the temperatures have been plummeting.  Yes, it definitely feels like Christmas.  Now if I could just get my shopping done . . .

Haven't started watching Christmas movies yet.  DH has been humoring me since I don't have my children around to help me celebrate the coming of the season (isn't he wonderful?), but not sure how many Christmas movies he can stomach.  And we have shopping yet to do.

Every year at this time, I'm sure I want to write a Christmas story, and yet it seems they've all been written.  How many variations on a theme can you do? - but they still keep coming.  It seems almost as if its getting so diluted now that the stories aren't very imaginative any more.  Do I want to add my name to that list?  The trend this year seems to be single mothers catching new husbands that bond instantly with their kids.  Seems a bit of a stretch, but I suppose there's always hope, and isn't that what Christmas is all about?  I'm sure one day I'll try my hand.  Last year I had a decent idea, but I never sat down to compose it into a story.  Keeping my options open.

Catch me if you can

I am an animal lover.  To that end, I am the proud adoptive parent to two cats.  The one (my old guy) is so well behaved as to be boring.  I've never had a cat that got into so little trouble in all my life.  Then there's the "blonde" cat.  She learned her manners from the old guy, but she is much more mischevious and also a lot more cuddly.  She's also a psycho cat. 

The blonde cat came to me at 6 weeks old, near death.  A feral cat, she had a horrible upper respiratory infection that lasted the next three months of her life.  My opinion is that had a lasting effect on the development of her lungs, because through the years, she's continued to have sneezing and breathing issues, although never very serious.  Lately, she's sounded more and more like a snufflupugus, to the point of my calling the vet to make her an appointment (she's now 10 years old).  This little psycho cat is accustomed to hiding from everyone, only making herself known in small groups of people (one or two is her preferred "crowd" size), and although she's very affectionate, she's also very skittish.  Easily spooked.  The old guy cat used to sit at the bottom of the steps and wait for her, then jump when she rounded the corner.  That gave her fits for a week, where she was afraid to move.

But I digress.  I made the vet appointment for her, concerned that her wheezing is somewhat worse than usual.  So I came home from work.  Who says cats don't understand?  She kept her distance from me, led me on a chase around the house for 45 minutes before she finally threatened to go to her hidey hole where no one can get near her in any way, shape or form.  So I called and rescheduled with the vet.  I had the last appointment of the day and I was already late.  Funny thing.  The minute I hung up the phone, there she was. Standing at my feet.  She knew it was too late to go.

Tonight, I figured I'd just grab her and go - no chasing her around the house, no offering her treats or trying to get her into a kitty carrier of any shape.  But guess what?  She was already in her hidey hole when I got home and 3 hours later, she still hasn't come down. {sigh}  So I've rescheduled with the vet yet again.

After our skirmish last night, once I settled in to watch some television, she showed up and curled up beside me very close (as if to apologize for her bad behaviour).  Something tells me she won't be coming out to cuddle tonight - and she didn't even have any advance warning tonight.  But tomorrow, there will be no saving her.  Once I catch sight of her, I'm going to corral her where I can get to her easily.

Reminds me of when I fed vegetables to my son.  You'd think I was trying to poison him!  At least with children you can explain the benefits of what you're trying to do, even if they don't appreciate it. (He eats his veggies now, but such a fuss when we was growing up!).

So still playing catch me if you can with the blonde cat.  I imagine she'll surface at some point later this evening. 

And the old guy cat?  He'll go.  He was jumping into the kitty carrier last night, following me around.  "I'll go.  Look Stupid (speaking to the blonde cat), it's not so bad.  C'mon.  It'll be fun."  Yeah, but this from the cat that used to jump out of hiding and scare the fur off her!

Fun and games.

Routine

Routine - it's something we all need in our lives in some way, shape or form.  For a writer, its essential to keeping his/her skills sharp.  As with anything, the more you do it, the  better you are at it, like playing the piano or competing in sports.

I always love the stories at writer's conferences, and Nora Robert's comments always surface about when she's writing and her kids used to call for her.  Her response was that unless the house was on fire or someone was dying, writing was HER time and she shouldn't be interrupted.  That reflects her dedication to her craft and certainly she has a routine.

When I first started writing seriously, and I hear this from many people as the way they start, my kids were young and my husband worked a third shift job.  So from 8:00 pm on, I had the run of the house to myself, and my love for writing kicked in with the free time.  The kids grew, the husband changed and routine changed, but the writing remained.  The important part was that it remained.  I continued to make time for it and to fine-tune it.  The difference is in altering the routine - the when part of writing.

We all live by a circadian rhythm.  We go to bed at a certain time, we wake up at a certain time.  Our pets expect to be fed at a certain time.  These are all routines that we live our lives by.  Even the homeless on the streets find their haunts at certain times of the day.

While there's something to be said for spontaneity, routine is inescapable.  And as a writer, it is essential.