Thanks Given - Day Twenty

Today, I am thankful to actually be in the Christmas spirit, and early to boot. Usually, we rush back to Indiana after Thanksgiving and hurriedly put up our Christmas decorations only to come back after Christmas to take them down in a rush. This year, for whatever reason, we decided to get them up last weekend before Thanksgiving. Strangely, since they're up, now I feel like I can actually enjoy Thanksgiving and not stress about getting back to do everything on Sunday.

Not only that, but this year I am so happy to be spending December in our new house. We designed our living room with our Christmas tree in mind and I even added an outlet near the stair railing because I knew I wanted lights right there during this time of year. One of the big reasons Tom and I wanted to move from our old house had nothing to do with practicality - it had to do with Christmas. We didn't have a fireplace and that was our vision of Christmas for them - stockings, Santa, the whole bit...

On a sad note, this is the first year, out of my 33 Christmases, that I will not be seeing my parents on Christmas morning. In fact, I think I've only not slept in my old room once or twice on Christmas Eve. Even then, it was just around the corner at Tom's house. (To be honest, I'm not even sure that's happened...) Since we've been engaged, I've also seen Tom's parents every Christmas morning. This will be a big change for us but one that comes with some bonuses. We are now starting that tradition with our kids. Josie, Tessa and Jack will get to wake up in their own house on Christmas and rush down the stairs to see our tree and find the Christmas pickle. :) We'll see Tom's parents before Christmas and my parents, brother and girlfriend are coming to our house the day after and I'm so excited about that!

I'm thankful to be in the Christmas mood this year. I have been known to be a bit of a Scrooge around this time of year - stressed to the max and too concerned with checking things off my list. I plan to stay ahead of the game and to be able to enjoy some of the special Christmas activities I have planned for the kids. Now, if someone will just remind me of this post the week before Christmas please... :)