St. Nicholas Day package!

Many thanks to my friend Franklin for the St. Nicholas Day package from Germany! It arrived late because Canada Customs held it for inspection. The box also contained St. Nick packages for Allison and Jodi; I'm seeing them on Monday evening, so I'll pass their St. Nick's gifts to them then.



This year, I'm make a concerted effort to take some solid time off around Christmas time. As a freelancer, I've found that although my time is more flexible than those with office jobs, in a way it's more difficult to take time off. Why? Because anytime I'm not working (or any paying assignment I turn down), I can't help but think that I'm NOT earning money, and then I feel guilty and can't enjoy myself. Another factor is that I love my work, so it's too easy to justify why I do so much.

What I need to remind myself: I -need- that downtime to refuel. So I'm taking some time off to spend time with friends and family but also to take some days off to do nothing but nap, read and have long soaks in the tub (preferably with a dog-eared and well-loved paperback).



It's easy to get sucked into the stress and panic of Christmas prep, but this year I'm trying hard to avoid that. I'm likely not going to have time to mail out many Christmas cards this year, but that's ok. Instead of trying to wrap all the gifts at the last minute, I'm doing a few at a time so I can actually enjoy the process, with Christmas music playing in the background; my current favourite is David Francey's Carols For A Christmas Eve.

And whenever I find myself getting too cynical or stressed about the holiday season, I take a deep, slow breath (believe it or not, it helps). And then focus, just for a moment or two, on some of the many things in my life for which I am deeply grateful.

A related Blatherings post (esp. for those who, like me, sometimes tend to get cynical and/or impatient about the holiday season): Scrooge Moments.

Speaking of people for whom I'm grateful...



Above: My Uncle John. I took this photo at a Christmas party at my cousins' place recently. At the same party LAST year, my uncle had a heart attack and my cousin saved his life with CPR. He ended up having a quadruple bypass heart operation.This is the same Uncle John who came out to Relay For Life earlier in the year.

This year when I greeted him at the party, he promised me he planned to stick around this time. And he did. :-)




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[HaleyPrince26]

freelance writer