Grinchy Christmas

"He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME! Somehow or other, it came just the same! "

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of my all time favorite Christmas stories. Every Christmas when I was little, we would read the book, and when my kids were little I would read it to them. Today I found the book in the bottom of a box of Christmas decorations.

Here it is, just a few days before Christmas, and I am still just getting decorations up. My family had dragged out the tree, and all the myriad boxes of decorations, to my great consternation over a week ago. They were more than ready to deck the halls....and I was not.

One of the down sides I have learned about being in this business is that Christmas is not so magical when you are one of the people working madly to make it happen. Since July, I have worked 7 days a week, often for days much longer than I would like to admit, trying to keep up with wholesale orders, and get ready for shows. I am thrilled to be busy, and getting orders. It is nice to see my work appreciated. This is the time of year that most work is sold.

But....by the time I finished my last show two weeks ago I was pooped. I was ready to do nothing at all for awhile. Not shift gears into a new sort of frenzy. So for a week I enjoyed the relative calm in my life. The relatively balmy temperatures we have had here in the northeast fed my denial.

But then the tree and assorted decorations came down from the attic, and I could be in denial no longer. Christmas cards were arriving in the mail. Not a single gift had been purchased. Emails were being sent among family members trying to nail down a date and time for our get together.
Christmas was coming! There was nothing I could do! I could not put it off for another day, another hour, or another minute. I was not ready. I am not ready.

But as the Grinch so wisely learned, Christmas would come in spite of the trappings and gifts. A little time on the internet, and I had several gifts. Several conversations with my husband, and we narrowed down what to do for the girls. The tree has been up for over a week. Half the lights went on the blink for a few days. But I managed to repair that without a visit from the Grinch. Christmas will come. I will spend time with my family. Some of it will be fun. Some if it tedious. But mostly it will be very, very good.

This year has been abundant with gifts for me. I have had such growth as an artist, and as a business person in the last year. I feel I have so much more to learn and do, but I am thrilled to have had so many wonderful people come into my life this year as a result of my work. That has been the most wonderful gift of all. One that can't be wrapped up. But one that will always fit, and will always be treasured.

And best of all, I am blessed with a wonderful family, who support and encourage me, and tolerates me! They are the most valuable treasures in my life. No gift could exceed that in value.