Most of you are probably thinking: what just happened? Is Christmas over? When do the kids go back to school? I better get these decorations down and dust! While you consider those options, I am busy preparing for a party. When I was first married, my mother in law Paula always had a holiday party that we would help with when we visited Arizona. It was always AFTER Christmas and her full house somehow felt joyous and comforting after the let-down of the "is that it?" feeling. Seeing friends and family, wearing red again, and eating yummy food "one last time" was all part of the celebration. I have followed in her footsteps (I miss her!) and for 18 years have had a party during the holidays. We have gone from 15 or 20 to over 100 depending upon the year. The numbers don't really matter to me because I think of it as a blessing. God brings some people whom we haven't seen much through the year and we are able to re-connect. One year I even drove myself to the hospital at 5am after 12 hours of stomach junk, had 2 liters of fluid via IV and drove myself home in time to change, patch together the cinnamon rolls Dave left in the oven for too long , and answer the first ring of the doorbell. God willing, I will NEVER do that again! I will never forget that I had a special grey shiny top to wear and I had comments like, "You match your top"! Little did they know, I had a bruise on my arm from the IV and was fighting to stay upright. Another year we had snow…LOTS of snow. We had boots lined up by the front door for miles. One thing remains: I wouldn't change any of it. We are truly blessed by our friends and grateful that God gave us this house to fill with them. Things change and with an impending move, who knows what next year will look like? For now, we move forward, with our cooking and baking and prepping and enjoying the last days of the decorations and lights.
With 2013 approaching and all of the talk of guns and cliffs, and despair…May God place peace on your heart, in your thoughts, and your actions because…LOVE IS BIGGER!
Cheers,
Coffee Talk Mom
2 of my favorite people and memories! Open House Day 2003
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