Holiday Madness

Blurry Christmas light photos seemed like the best way to capture the blurry holiday mood I'm in today.

I started with just some regular holiday bokeh from this tutorial.

Then, Em sent me this cool photography tutorial. My first attempt was with a Fiskars medium-sized star punch. The punch was too large to get the effect I wanted. I tried a Stampin' Up tiny heart punch instead. That got me closer to what I was trying for.

Today I am thinking about all of the holiday preparations I still need to make: two more days of work to survive, gifts to be purchased, gifts to be wrapped, a few more cards to be written, menus to be planned, cookies to be delivered, visits to be planned, Santa letters to be answered.

Today I am trying to think more about the December celebrations yet to come: a dinner date with Luke and Dottie on Wednesday, a quiet Christmas Eve with my parents, Christmas Day fondue with Brad's family, a visit with Stephanie during my time off next week, White Christmas in Chicago with my mom, celebrating New Years Eve in a different way than ever before.

I am trying so hard to focus on the fun instead of the stress.

The Holiday Stress

Today the stress of the season hunted me down, tackled me, stomped all over me, and then sat on my head. Really. There was no catalyst for the attack of the holiday stress. It just happened. On my way to work this morning, my shoulders tightened, my head started aching, and my gas light went on.

It wasn't until almost 12 hours later - as I sprinted through the grocery store to buy some buns to replace the ones I forgot to take out of the freezer before leaving for work this morning - that I realized that I need to be in control of the holiday stress.

So, I bought myself some flowers and decided to concentrate only on what I could control and dwell only on healthy thoughts.

I thought about the advice of a friend - if letting go is too difficult instead focus on loosening your grip. I thought about nice things I have done lately for people I care about, little ways I have brightened the lives of others. I loved opening my first Christmas card of the season. I made a list of the gifts I have bought so far; it was longer than I expected it to be. Brad and I ate dinner with only the Christmas tree lights on.

It was strange, but even just buying the flowers made me feel better.

I am going to be okay. I am going to enjoy this December.

Monday with Natalie

Natalie and I rang bells for the Salvation Army today. More about that later. Tonight, though, let me just tell you about why Natalie is so awesome.

Reason 1.
She reported that she would like a Barbie Doll for Christmas. You can imagine my excitement about this! I asked her what kind of Barbie she wanted. Her reply? "I want a Barb Barbie." That's right. She wants a Barbie that looks like me. Awesome.

Reason 2.
She has inherited my love of the word "seriously." Overheard, "For serious" and "Are you seriously?" She is still - clearly - learning how to use the word properly. It was seriously adorable.

December Daily 2010

December Daily 2010

In Christames past, I have really enjoyed playing along with some type of December Daily. It was Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" that really got me involved and Ali Edwards's projects that have kept me going.

Here is what started it in 2006.
Here's what I made in 2007.  (never finished)
Here is 2008.
Here is 2009. (never finished)

And, here is 2010.

I don't have much creativity when it comes to these things. Mine is pretty much an identical copy of Ali Edwards's album. I added some vintage elements, made a cover that was a little more "me", and used a few different details inside.