This Holiday Season Seems More Serene!

I have made it through the cookie exchange, Christmas Eve services, dinner for 12 on Christmas Eve, opening gifts on Christmas morning, dinner for 18 on Christmas night, and my daughter's 15th birthday on the 26th. We sent our son back to New York City today after a mad dash to the train station and now my daughter is off to a Wizards' basketball game with friends. I am exhausted. Thank heavens we didn't try to go away after Christmas like we had originally planned.

When I look back at this holiday season, it seems like one of the best I have ever had. Even though it was hectic, there was a serenity to it that I haven't felt before. Gathering with friends and family mattered more this year. The gifts were smaller, but somehow, they seemed better because there was more thought in them. I gave homemade fruitcake to some friends. We received cookies in exchange. The gifts had more imagination this year than splash. The friends seemed more appreciative to be included in the chaos and joy of our holiday meals. It just seemed nicer.

The Christmas Eve service was really special this year. (I have to say that I am a lapsed Episopalian who frequently only gets to church twice a year - Christmas and Easter). We always go to the early family service and the Christmas pageant never changes. The youngest children are sheep. The next age group are angels, and so they work up through the ranks to shepherds, kings, and finally the wise men and if you are truly lucky to Mary and Joseph. Looking around this year at friends and fellow parishioners I have known for 25 years, I felt so contented to be part of an extended community - Children I have known since they are 5 or 6 are now married with children. Others who were young when we joined the church are now elderly with oxygen bottles! The continuum of life felt good. It is important to know this year that life goes on and we will all survive! The things that really matter are still here, and it seems easier to find them with so much of the fluff gone. This is a Christmas I will cherish and remember because the important things came through so clearly.

Christmas is technically over now. I have already met with a client this morning, written a low ball offer on a short sale, and am getting ready to write another offer on a property that was a short sale last summer, but is.now redone and very attractive. Okay, so that is all in a day's work, because I am a Realtor! I am always delighted to be of service. But even in the midst of the sales activity, there is a glow that still lingers - a sense of connection that I haven't felt in recent years. I hope your holidays were good too. Happy New Year Too!