December 20

Today is the first day of a two week winter vacation and I'm bubbling over with excitement. But I'm also living today like it could be my last.  Have you seen the weather forecast for the next few days?



Here's hoping the Mayan's were wrong.  Regardless, I'm going to find the beauty in everything today - including the piles of laundry, boxes of Christmas decorations that still need to be put up, bills that need to be paid, what feels like a constantly dirty kitchen, stacks of schoolwork and paperwork, runny noses that need to be wiped, and even the traffic on the roadways to and from the stores.   Today, I'm going to do my best to smother my family, my neighbors, my friends and myself with love.  I'm going to stop whatever it is that I'm doing and sit down to play with my children. I'm going to hug my spouse tightly and tell him that he's the light of my world. I'm going to look people in the eyes and smile warmly.  I'm going to put on something lovely and go get my haircut.

And I'll do it all over again tomorrow ... provided I'm still here.

(Except the haircut thing. No need to do that two days in a row.)