A week before Christmas

A week to go before Christmas and I find my energy level for the Holidays a bit down. Likewise my enthusiasm meter shows it's way down. I don't know what happens to me during this time of the year. I cannot seem to summon up enough energy, enough excitement, the same eagerness I once had for this holiday.

As our family had been doing for a few years now, what with the original nieces and nephews all grown and some have little kiddies of their own, we now only buy one present with a set price (usually $10) that would hopefully be gender neutral which we would number and then we'd pick out a number and we'd get the present with the corresponding number (like a white elephant thingy). Now if you pick the one you brought, you could pick another number. This way we can all cut down the cost of Christmas. Our family is big, and if we continued doing what we were doing before (buying each and everyone a present) well, it's crazy expensive. And completely unnecessary expenses, I might add. We all agreed that the adults (which now outnumber the kids) don't actually need anything, don't require presents at Christmas. So we all only buy one present, however, all the kids under 12 still get presents from everyone. After all Christmas presents are for kiddies, right?

That being said, trips to the stores/mall have been curtailed in half, or even less, especially since we almost always pick something up from the store all year round, or hit the buy button on websites for deals we see.

Be that as it may, I still found myself at the stores this weekend, the horror! I was slated to pick up some clothes for moi. I don't normally shop much for clothes except that I had budgeted some money for clothes from my vacation fund. I had found some pants, work pants, that I kinda like, but when I saw the long line at the cashier, I didn't hesitate to leave them behind and march out of the store. Long lines and shopping chaos give me headache.

Also this weekend, our 2nd annual project for the homeless in the city went underway. On Saturday we filled Christmas sacks filled with goodies from toiletries to food and bible. The evening also consisted of dinner and caroling. A fun time. Sunday was when the gift sacks were distributed; however, we didn't go with the group to distribute. We had other things to do.

We had a heavy heart all weekend long, helping friends with relationship woes. It's really hard to keep a relationship going. It's true love is not enough to keep it going. So many little things required for a partnership to bloom and thrive and grow, things like respect, compassion, romance, trust, etc. It's hard when you are friends with both of them. It would be easier if you are friends with just one of them, then your focus and support is with the friend. The hubby and I were on call and we've been fielding calls all weekend long. I pray that they can find a solution that is right for both of them. It makes me sad to see a relationship crumble, especially when you don't see the crack forming right before your very eyes. You only become aware there's trouble when the whole darn building collapses. That's what happened here. The hubs and I look at each other in disbelief. We had NO clue at all.