So, I about gave up this whole project.
I was kind of having some problems with being jolly anyway, and then, I heard a commercial on the radio: A divorce attorney, offering a Christmas discount special. And that was it. The final straw. No more Christmas for Miri.
I packed away the Santa hat and the itsy bitsy Christmas tree and officially declared "Bah-humbug."
But I'm so lucky to have the awesome friends I do. Some nice folks talked to me on Facebook, and encouraged me not to give up.
And then the Hittys set me straight about a few things. They pointed out that I've taken on a lot with this Advent project, then trying a 12 Days of Christmas thing, and sending out cards, gifts and whatnot and not even living in my own house. They said that maybe I was making my own season a little too stressful and not focusing on the things that matter.
There's a nice mouse couple who have taken over running the Toy Shop while Tabby is gone. They sent me this little holly plant and a Christmas book as a "getting to know you" friendship present. We're going to have dinner sometime after Christmas. Anyway, THEY pointed out that this is a very tough time of year to be working in retail, much less running a store that isn't yours and with all the stress of not knowing if you're running it the way the owner would want. (They know about this stuff, 'cause they kind of have the same thing going on at the toy shop). I hadn't thought about that at all. But I think they may be right.
When Wendy got home, SHE pointed out that it's been really cold in the Wylde Kingdom lately, and wondered if maybe I wasn't getting enough sleep because I was too chilly. She could be right, I haven't been sleeping well. So she found me a little space heater to see if I might get some better sleep with a little more warmth.
It worked today. I had a good long sulk, lots of naps, and spent the day wallowing in self pity and now I'm over it. You can only do that for so long, and it turns out that, for me, "so long" is about 1 day.
I'm okay. And I still love Christmas, even if it's being kind of an uphill battle sometimes. I got the hat and the itsy bitsy Christmas tree back out and we'll just see what happens.
So, thank you all for caring about me and for your help. I am so grateful to have friends who'll listen to me, and talk me through a rough spot. I am one very lucky pixie.
Thank you.
Back to your regularly scheduled Advent photo project. No more 12 Days. I just felt weird about getting stuff, stuff, and more stuff. So yeah... just pictures. Hope you don't mind.
- Miri
