How to Manage Stress!

Quite the catchy title, but what does it really mean? How can I possibly do this...

It started with me handing the kid's Christmas lists over to Joe. I said "here, buy this and wrap it". He said "ok". Easy enough.

Then it was me telling him to stop at Old Navy on the way to his mom's house and buy 7 gift cards for our nieces. Easy enough.

Finally, it was me telling him "No tree. I don't have time to put one up, and I don't want to have to deal with it when I come back from Alaska". Not quite as easy. So, instead of the real tree we usually get (from Andrew's Boy Scout troop), a fake tree from Lowe's made its way into our garage. When I voiced my doubts about my time commitment, Joe said "you have nothing to do with the tree this year". Ok, easy enough. Still, lingering guilt resides.

Why say no tree, one might ask...

Normally, the idea of the Christmas tree is the pinnacle of the Holiday season. However, the reality is that as soon as the tree is up, and the lights are on, everyone magically disappears and mom finishes all the work.
Enough! I say, Enough!

I'm taking two classes in December. STRESS. Andrew just brought home a wrestling schedule with meets three times a week, plus some Saturday tournaments. STRESS. Jessica has soccer tournaments the next two weekends. STRESS. The weekend before I leave for Alaska I have a 10 page paper due (I do not have a topic yet) plus a friend's 40 all-day birthday party in Amador County (yes, wine tasting). STRESS.

I have become adept at self-preservation. Saying no is okay, as is scaling back decorations, commitments, and shopping.

As I get older things seem to be getting simpler. Or maybe it's that I am raising my standards as to what I expect out of the Holiday season, which is peace, quiet, and a really good book.

Anyways.

We had a great time at Disneyland for Thanksgiving. It was crowded on Wednesday, but not on Thursday and Friday. It was very warm, good thing we took shorts. Our great friends Trish and Scott went with us, making the trip much more memorable.

It's worth mentioning...I have to resize my jpeg files to upload onto Blogger, otherwise it takes forever to upload one picture. Sorry if some of the pictures seem blurry.