I did it. I made it through a whole weekend of setting up outdoor and indoor decorations, Christmas trees, and the nativity scene, and I did it all while maintaining my patience and sense of Christmas fun. Whew!
It wasn't easy. Todd and I went out on Saturday night and stayed out later than we had in years, had more cocktails than we should have, and were running on entirely too little sleep for the amount of energy we were required to have.
The law of Christmas decorating didn't help us either. Things went wrong at every turn. We were missing hooks and stakes, and lights were out all over the place for our outdoor decorations. When we were carrying our huge Christmas tree up from downstairs we accidentally smashed it into the wall and broke the top section (which we masterfully temporarily fixed with zip strips). A whole bottom row of lights was out on our smaller tree but I rearranged some branches and you can hardly tell. The kids were wild and crazy and excited and I just let them have at it. I even managed to laugh it off when they repeatedly broke some of my glass ornaments (5 in all, which is saying something considering most of our ornaments are not breakable). Five less ornaments to hang, I figured. For some crazy reason, nothing bothered me.
However, I think I used up all of my patience on this past weekend because today I have none left. Every little thing is bugging me. Even stupid little things that normally I wouldn't even notice are annoying me today.
The stamps I bought for my Christmas cards are so heinous. They have a nice picture of a mailbox with packages inside it, but then next to that it has a big mailing code. What the heck? Is this what stamps look like now or is it just because I got them out of the machine at the post office instead of waiting in line for 2 hours? Either way, it makes me mad.
I was at the grocery store today (enough to make me cranky on its own) and when I got to the check out I discovered that my package of cheese curds was already open. When I showed the cashier and asked for a different one she gave me a real evil look like she thought I was the one who opened the bag and had been secretly sneaking around the store eating them or something. She got real huffy and called a bagger over to fetch me a new bag and refused to talk to me the rest of time she checked me out.
Then as I left the store I saw a sign on someone's truck that said, "Be nice to me. I may be pregnant." What the hell? I seriously can not think of any situation where that sign should be anywhere. Signs like that make me want to NOT be nice to you, as a matter of fact. Perhaps it was meant to be funny, but it failed. It is like those "Baby on Board" signs from years ago. Yeah, I was meaning to hit you with my car, but now that I see you have a baby on board I won't. HUH?
People are crazy, and today I have no patience left.
Perhaps when the kids lie down for a nap today I can lie down too and try to catch up on all the sleep I missed out on this weekend. And maybe when I wake up I will be filled with a new stash of Christmastime patience.
Or maybe I'll be too busy grabbing something to eat, cleaning up the lunchtime mess, putting the rest of the groceries away, and taking a shower that by the time I have a spare moment the kids will be home from school and we'll be busy with homework and making dinner.
Oh, Calgon, take me away!
11 comments:
i'm glad you had the patience when it was needed for the fun. be gentle with yourself today and get to bed early. i bet the patience comes back soon ;)
I'm so pleased to read you had a fun weekend!
And if you're a little crabby today, no biggie. Keep your head down and stay in a fog--the weather will let you. It'll pass, right?
Ok, I love this post because now I know it's not just me! I let the kids go to town with the ornaments, then I spend the next few days rearranging! No one notices! I have not bought my Xmas stamps yet because I am considering not sending any cards for the first time ever. Now I want to go buy some stamps, just to see the choices.
And I should be nice to someone because they may be pregnant? How about being nice to someone that may be PMSing? Or menopausal? Lets worry about them too!
Yes, sleep and some egg nog or warm apple cider.
Oh Kat, I love when you are so honest. This is me to a T, well, not so much the patience part, we haven't decorated yet, I'll have to get back to you on that, but the cranky after having patience, it is like it gets used up, isn't it?
At least you were patient when it counted, right? Memory building? Go you! I can not believe the broken ornaments didn't get to you. It's funny how sometimes things do and sometimes they just don't.
Oh your patience will return with enough sleep. And I'm sure a hunk of chocolate wouldn't hurt much either.
Sounds like the decorating was tons of fun though! Making memories!!! I yo-yo like that all the time, super awesome day, nasty day... it's like the super awesome day saps all my nice energy, egads! :/ But hey, at least there are some nice days tucked in here and there right!?!
Take a deep breath and remember, It's going to be later soon.
I hope you have a much better rest of the week. :)
You very much did the right thing with the kids and the decorating. It's such a rush to be a kid and be allowed to decorate the tree the way you want!
When things start piling up on you and you get all grouchy, grab a cup of tea (or something stronger, if that's your cup of tea), sit down somewhere, and stare at the tree. If that doesn't make you smile, seek professional help :-)
I was pretty "chill" about putting stuff out this year too. I even left a few things in the box... it's just too much - trying to simplify a bit, you know?
Also, I had to laugh because we went out Friday night and had too many drinks and I was a bit too out of it (hungover) to help until Sat. afternoon... ;)
your doing great and at this time of year we all lose patience.
Post a Comment