Day 12 was a very fun day for me. We had a friend from church who is trying to jumpstart her photography business. She's done several jobs so far and had some good results. Mild mannered office worker by day, artistic photographer by night.
So anyway, she came over and we had our Christmas card pictures taken. I talked about those on a previous post. Let the record show, that this carpooling family is not one to take pretty and average staged smiley portraits. So we did some really silly stuff. We let the dogs out with us, and there was some tail waggin, and whimsy going on. We were doing some fun poses and laughing. We were caught in between shots and laughing.
I got to thinking that all the laughing and merriment was really what I love about the holidays. At Christmas people are so much more open to seeing others. In our daily lives, we can so easily get wrapped up in the mundane and the minutae of our lives. Taking kids here, stopping by there, homework, chores, all the everyday things. Often times, when I'm in the store, or restaurant, or anywhere, I see what I need to do, and not necessarily those around me. I can find myself, getting impatient with my kiddos, and the checker, or server or whomever. But I find at this time of year, I am more willing to share a laugh. Some of the people I happen to meet, are often more willing as well.
Case in point, this lovely older gentleman was in the laundry aisle in the grocery store. He's looking a little overwhelmed. Up and down he paces several times. So, I take a minute and ask if he is looking for something in particular. He's staying with his daughter and her husband from Thanksgiving to Christmas, since he's retired and from out of town. I wanna say, from the pacific northwest, visiting Texas. As his contribution to the household, he is getting the laundry supplies today, and not sure what works well in their High Efficiency machine. L-ovely O-lder G-entleman and I have the older top load granny machines, (and love them). So, I help LOG, find something for the HE and a smell he likes. Halfway down the aisle we run into, Lovely Older Lady, in a motorized cart who is looking for fabric softener that fits into her fixed budget. So, LOG and I help LOLinC find her bouquet scented fabric softener. We all part ways after spending a good 5-10 minutes bonding and laughing in the laundry aisle. It wasn't a Christmas errand, it was laundry. But we all were having fun, talking about the smelly stuff, and different washers and visiting grandkids (them) going to see grandma (me).
I think, the Christmas spirit is about seeing those around us. Whether it's a chance meeting over laundry, or volunteering at a food bank, or adopting an angel tree or stopping to see the awesomeness that is your family. Yes, my husband and kids have days, that make me wanna sell them to the circus, but sometimes when I look, I see funny, bright, loving people. So, let's everyone be quick to laugh, slow to grumble, quick to share, and slow to seclude.
Remember that Christmas is a time for Merriment. So, Merry it up! That is what Christmas means to me.
Merry Christmas everyone! "May your days be Merry and Bright! And may all your Christmases be White!"
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