Xmas 2009

Posted December 24th, 2009 by KellBell

Here we are on Christmas Eve 2009, smack dab in the heart of the Holiday Season, and I can safely say that it feels like anything but the holidays. Yes we have the tree all decked out, lights on the house, and have already delivered most of our goodies to folks, but despite all of that it still doesn’t feel like Christmas. The thing is, it definitely doesn’t seem as if I am alone. Many of my friends have said the same thing: they’re going through the motions but it doesn’t feel like Christmas this year. I don’t know if it’s the atmosphere of the nation – being trapped in an economic down turn and the sense of doom and gloom that has gripped us – or if it’s different things for different people, but it makes me sad. I usually love the holidays and spending time with folks. Hugs, kisses, good food, wine, and just relaxed moments have been, up til now, a bit scant this year. But I think it’s time to try to make the best of it.

Like last year, my company will be closed from Christmas Eve (today) through the New Year (we open again on Jan 4th). I’ll probably work a bit here and there just because that’s how I am, but I do plan on spending time with my little family as well as getting on my bike and getting some run time in. I think the time away will do me, and all of us, some good. We’ll get Jeremy back out in the snow and on his snow shoes. We’ll have some more family moments which seem to be slipping by so much quicker these days as he just gets older. I’ll get some time in with my parents, we’ll get New Year’s Eve with friends and our North Bay family…in other words, the time with folks I love is fast approaching and I am desperately looking forward to it.

I think what it boils down to is this: My holidays have been downright rough since Thanksgiving, but I am finally pulling around and realizing just how lucky I still am and am ready to embrace the joys of the holidays again. I think one of my old high school friends put it best on Facebook last night: “…no matter how bad we think we have it in life, there are others who have it far worse, and have far less.” Life is truly what you make it and I am going to make what is left of this year as good as it was before this little downturn.