(Originally posted on LiveJournal)
(I hate it when half-composed posts get accidentally lost! Boo!)
Our office closed on the 14th, and we’re not expected to be back in the office until the 2nd. A nice break, yes?
Mine had been filled with “heavy” labor. Clearing the apartment, having some maintenance done (new blinds! yes!), receiving furniture from Houston. Work, work, work, and more still ahead of me. Even so, getting the place into better order has been very refreshing. Perhaps because I can now see the end result. I still have a lot that I will have to transport to storage, but that’s becoming less.
When the furniture arrived from Houston, yes, I was pleased to have the things. But it wasn’t just that they are lovely antiques (and they are). It was that they are tied to my childhood. They mean more to me as part of my personal history than as “valuable objects”. Up to this point, what I’ve had in my household are things that I’ve gotten since I moved into my first apartment (during grad school). I didn’t really have much that reached further back, other than a couple of bookcases. But adding the furniture from my parents’ home into the mix changes the whole atmosphere. Combining that with other changes I have been making since the summertime, I feel that the new year will be a Whole New Thing. Which is cool.
My restored sideboard
Of course, I still haven’t gotten all my Christmas cards out (and the list gets longer every year!). And there’s some other work that needs to be done this week. But all things considered, so far, this has been a very nice holiday break, even with all the work. I feel that the last several months, I’ve been preparing to go in entirely new directions. Although losing my Mom has been a big sorrow, I’ve also gotten a new perspective on her, and on my parents’ relationship, that has brought me much delight and joy. I have so many friends who come from very troubled family backgrounds I am very conscious of how blessed I and my siblings have been: our parents did a good job. And my relationships with my siblings have been renewed and refreshed, as we drew together to deal with Mom’s passing. So, sorrow and joy have been mixed together in a rather wonderful way.
These are the things that are going through my head and heart at this time, as the year winds to its end and we celebrate the coming of Christ into the world. The confluence of the season and the patterns of my own life are making this a very special Christmas for me.
So I wish you all an equally bright, refreshing Christmas and New Year! God bless.
Comments
eldritchhobbit – Dec. 25th, 2007
*happy holiday hugs*
