This Is Where I Am At. Today.

 

Today was kind of awesome. After working on a few blog columns and getting housework done, I decided to bake some Thanksgiving treats for our wonderful neighbors. I made homemade quick bread and jumbo muffins. Pumpkin crunch. Cranberry caramel crunch. 

While I was doing all of this, the music was on. 

Our kids frequently visited me in the kitchen.

I may or may not have sipped a little wine. 

I admired our new Christmas tree that we will be decorating this weekend. 

I made sure to get a little ahead in my Work at Home Dog Mom stuff so I could have plenty of time to spend in our Bodacious Kitchen tomorrow to prep for our Thanksgiving meal.

It is our first Thanksgiving in our new house.

Our new home.

Our first Christmas.

Lots of "firsts."

I'm feeling rather festive.

Lisa and I have had a lot of conversations surrounding this.

A lot has changed since we bought our house and moved in February.

If you have been reading this blog since then, you probably have a good idea.

If you have not been reading this blog since then, well...

You probably should so all of this makes sense. 

Especially the posts since February.

But, if you're pressed for time, here's the short version...

In the months after buying our house in February, we learned a lot about people. That ranged from our old tribe and people that came out of the woodwork or we met after we moved.

A few things got back to us. Sure, it bothered us, but we eventually got over it and moved on. 

I honestly thought the holidays would be difficult. 

For many years, we opened our doors to people who had no place to go for Thanksgiving or who were down and out.

For my birthday, in December, there were numerous celebrations. 

For Christmas, we often had a holiday gathering of some sort. And, on Christmas Day we opened our doors to those who had no place to go for Christmas dinner.

Obviously, because of COVID-19, we have to improvise. 

However, aside from COVID-19, things were going to be a lot different because of the changes, our old tribe, and beyond.

I honestly thought it would be a repetitive situation of finding joy, losing joy, finding joy. 

Nope.

After many conversations and new perspectives and the ability to move on...

We have found peace. 

We have closed chapters.

We have moved on.

You seriously need to read some of the blog columns I have published since February for this to make sense.

What that all translates to is that we're embracing some of our old traditions. But, we're creating new traditions. Lots of them.

That has me seriously excited and relaxed about this holiday season.

We no longer have to focus on what brought us down in the years prior. Especially in the last couple of years.

We're not dealing with the drama and bullshit.

That makes a world of difference.

I no longer have to dread the obligatory holiday crap. Do this. Do that. Do this. Do that. Because it's expected.

This year, we're excited about the holidays. About spreading holiday love and cheer. We're looking forward to everything that we have planned to do just that.

And, it doesn't matter if I'm working on stuff at 7 in the morning or 10 at night. I can put the tunes on. 

So, that's where I'm at. 

Today.