I’m beat.

We had a great turn out for our annual Christmas Open House this past Saturday. Family and friends filled our home and spilled out into the front yard. The people we love were gathered around the fire pit and over the countertop crowded with dips and chips and chili and sweets.

I spread out my baking and cooking over the week before the party so that I wouldn’t be the proverbial headless chicken running around Saturday morning. Friends also contributed delicious appetizers and desserts, which was a huge help. Ben took care of blowing leaves and cleaning windows and vacuuming. And yet…

I’m exhausted.

I think the Christmas season can do that to us, if we’re not careful. Too many activities filling our already busy schedules, piled on top of the stress of finding the perfect gifts AND staying on budget! Add in a dash of all the cleaning before and after hosting fun events, and throw in some anxiety about all the sugary snacks now calling to you from the cabinets you chucked them in (out of sight, off of thighs), and you’ve got a recipe for Christmas Overload!

Just me?

I tend to get “people’d” easily: I am that breed of extroverted introvert that thoroughly enjoys being around the people I love en masse, but then needs to hide out in a darkened room for three days straight with snacks and maybe my cat. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but I do require time alone in order to enjoy time with others.

I stayed home and watched church online Sunday morning, but that afternoon Ben’s mom and I took the kids to see “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at the Glen Allen Cultural Center and then we got Chipotle and drove around looking at Tacky Lights! And last night we hosted our small group Christmas dinner. All good things; wonderful things! But I need twelve naps.

So today I’m taking it easy. Out of necessity. Because I want to be kind to my family, and I tend to be a *teensy* bit edgy when I’m worn out. Or rather, I want to be taking it easy but even as my back is resting against an army of pillows, my mind is filled with anxious thoughts about all I need to be doing (this is the Christmas I decided to DIY the heck out of stuff) So I’m going to be productive in small ways that don’t involve leaving the house. Maybe I’ll throw on a feel-good Christmas movie so that my brain will stop going a mile a minute.

The last time I wrote, I could literally feel the Holy Spirit as I typed about the wonder and awe of God with us. Today, not so much. I feel nothing but frazzled and worn out.

So I will take a hot bath. I will stay in pajamas. I will enjoy my Christmasy house and breathe in the pine-scented air (if Cooper doesn’t decide to pee on the tree again today. Dude! Just because there’s a tree doesn’t mean you’re outside! Don’t worry, he just got the floor.) SERENITY NOW!

Prayers welcome. And let me know if you need some thrown your way!

Here’s hoping the rest of this day is more “Silent Night” than “Jingle Bells.”

Love you guys!

Angela