Did you have a good Christmas? Did you spend time with your family and loved ones? I did have a good day and it was so nice to be with my family, to see the joy of the day written all over my younger daughter’s face and to be blessed with decent enough health to be up and around for the day.

My older daughter was not able to be home with us this year but will be joining us soon. And my Aunt feel on Sunday night and broker her shoulder and cheek bone. Not having either of them with us made the day a bit sad but having my 10 year old daughter brightened it up for us.

I hope that your day was filled with joy, peace and time to spend counting your blessings.

Tis the season to eat. And I’ve been doing my share. Way too much though and it’s all been things that aren’t good for me. Cookies, chocolate, cake and all kinds of Christmas yummies like fudge are surrounding me.

I know it’s not healthy to eat these kind of things, but I try to eat a little bit and not overdo. I think we all need to have a something tasty and sweet once in a while. If I ate all the goodies that are in my house now and the ones soon to come I’ll be needing the best diet pill. Thank goodness for my my willpower.

Photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

It’s getting down to the wire, just 14 more days until Christmas. Just 5 more days until my daughter’s birthday. Just 17 more days until my wedding anniversary. Just 19 more days until my daughter arrives here from Kansas. I’m just tired writing all that!

My Christmas wish is a vacation after Christmas. If I could wave a magic wand, I’d go for a trip to Branson. If I go then we can keep our promise (hopefully, if Mother Nature agrees) to show my youngest daughter snow. We’d have more of a chance of that happening if we chose to stay at the Cabins at Grand Mountain.

If my wishes were to keep on coming, I’d go with a package that includes our accommodations, some meals, show tickets and even a shopping spree. After all what’s a vacation without going to a mall? This is a family friendly area so the shows would be just perfect for us to take our daughter. I’d love to see the Amazing Pets show and the Acrobats of China. My husband would like the Dixie Stampede and the Happy Trails Museum. And I know our daughter would pick the Silver Dollar theme park. While my dd and I go shopping, my dear could play golf.

It sounds like I have all this planned in my head. Now to see if I can make my wishes come true. Anyone have a magic lamp I can borrow?

I’ve been working at keeping my stress levels low this Christmas season so that I don’t end up getting sick like I usually do around this time of year. I’ve devised a system that’s been working for me. I want to pass on a few pointers in the hopes that you will gain from my experiences.

1. Writing Lists for everything. I began to keep lists back in mid-November. It started with my Thanksgiving plans and continued from there. I have gift lists, budgets for gifts, food lists including what meals will be made and the ingredients needed, Christmas card lists, etc. If there’s something that I need to remember, I’m writing it down.
2. Staying Organized – All those lists go into a special file along with a calendar. I’ve transferred this info onto my online calendar too. Every piece of mail that comes into my house is opened by the trash can. If it doesn’t have sensitive information, in it goes. If it does, it’s shredded. My daughter can’t leave anything lying around any more. Everything is in its place.
3. Finances – We are spending less and doing more. Even though there seems to be less hours in a day now, volunteer time is our way of giving back. We are doing as much as possible as a family to keep it fun. We are sticking to our budget too on presents and food. Don’t forget the food, it adds up quickly!
4. My Outlook – I have a tendency to get down around the holidays due to family members’ losses.  To add to it, this year is the first year I will be without my daughter, who now lives in Kansas. I knew this would make it even more difficult for me.  I listen to  Christmas music, try to be around other people as much as I can, read books and watch shows that are cheerful, read other people’s blogs, look for the humorous side of things and try to keep a smile on my face.
5. Decorations – We have always decorated our home for Christmas. We go overboard.  This year we aren’t holding back at all. We are taking every decoration we have and using it. It’s been fun looking at some things we haven’t seen in years.

I’d love to hear what you are doing to relieve stress this season. Or is it difficult for you and you’re having problems getting through it all? I hope not, but we can “talk” about it here and share.

With Zenni Optical I can afford to purchase eyeglasses that portray the various styles I like. Now I can even own a pair of Holiday frames.

I love to wear Christmas jewelery and shirts. I do the same thing for other holidays like the Fourth of July, Easter and even St. Patrick’s Day. To be able to match my glasses to my clothing and mood would complete the picture for sure!

I saw these red frames that have white snowflakes on them and even though I live in Florida, I’d love to own a pair. I wear a lot of red with Christmas coming so soon. I have a red faux fur collar jacket that these would look stunning with.

There is a big selection of frames in red, green, blue and frames with holiday motifs like Christmas stockings, stained glass, horse drawn sleds, and so many more. I spent a lot of time looking through them. It was hard to choose just one favorite.

I know first hand that Zenni Optical has very good quality eyeglasses. My older daughter and her fiancee’ each bought a few pairs and were thrilled with them. They said that the customer service was terrific, even advising them that they had made some mistakes in ordering.

When they received their glasses, they saw that they were just like those sold at stores but for a fraction of the cost. They compared them to what they owned previously and couldn’t tell the difference based on the quality of the frames.

So why shouldn’t I splurge and get a few pairs of glasses instead of just one? After all it is the holidays.

What a day it’s been. I hardly had any sleep the past few nights and my body was telling me that it’s time to slow it down, but I had already made plans to volunteer at my daughter’s school to help with the Christmas shop. This is a place where the children can buy presents for their family. The items don’t cost very much and the teachers and volunteers help to make sure that they are not overspending or buying for themselves.

Today was the first day and it wasn’t very busy, but we still had a few classes come in mainly to look at what was available. It wasn’t very hard work but I came in tired and left extra tired. I also had my support group scheduled but no one had said they were coming. I left a message at the church that I was across the street in case someone showed up.

I had a few errands to run after the school time. I had no choice but to do them. I knew if I went home I’d just fall asleep so it was better to move around. I busied myself until it was time to pick up my daughter from school and then I just drove over there and sat in the car in line. I felt myself falling asleep a few times, but thank goodness she was in the car very quickly.

My body was aching when I got home so I did some stretches to work out the kinks. It felt good to just let my muscles stretch out. After getting snacks for me and my daughter and helping her with some homework, I ended up taking a short nap.

I spent some time watching tv and relaxing tonight. I knew I did a lot of walking today so sitting was a good idea. Now I’m just going to work a little while longer and get that good night’s rest that I need.