I totally shouldn’t be sitting here writing, but rather stamping. This time of year is pure MADNESS…..  it’s like… I work at a good pace all year long, and then Christmas hits and it’s like WHOA NELLY… easy on the stopper now!! I think I have a piece of silver lodged under my right index fingernail, because every time it hits these keys, I want to cry. No pain no gain. A gal called yesterday as I was on my way home from Target, and wanted to let me know that I mis spelled her son’s name. It’s not BROOK, it’s BROCK, with a “C” she said…  ugh….   I knew there was no way in the world I could get through this busy season without at least one error…. but she’s the only one to report one yet, so that’s a PLUS…  All i have left to stamp are the orders that came in on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th… There have been a few that came in after midnight on the 13th that have some pretty good stories as to why they are late, so if I’m in a good mood when I’m about to lay down the hammer, I might tackle those as well. I’m literally on my knees that the United States Postal Service is on their toes this year. I mean, I know they are always on their toes from Thanksgiving to Christmas, but this year their services are running a little slower than normal… SOOOOO if I have all promised orders out by Monday, then I think I’m good to go. There’s nothing worse than shipping something out SIX DAYS before someone needs something, then on Christmas Eve getting a phone call wondering where their order is….. ugh…. makes me wanna strangle someone. Speaking of strangling someone… So I was at Target yesterday because we were out of detergent, hand soap, vitamins and these yummy fruit leather things that I hide in my workshop from the kids as a pick-me-up snack. And I only had about 47 mins before I had to be back home here to pick up Maggie and our neighbor kid, Kate from violin practice at 3:30pm….  You should’ve seen me man. I only had the handful of items to get, but I ended up ripping through that store like a tornado. Running over people’s toes, bashing into a row of barbies on an aisle end, sending about 12 of them flying through the air and landing with a crash. There was a Target employee about 5 feet from me re-stocking said Barbie display, and she just glared at me like I was the devil incarnate.. I said, “Ohhhh my gosh ma’am .. I am SOOO sorry,,, here, let me help you pick these up.” She said, “NO.. no no no.. don’t worry about it, you are clearly in a hurry, just let me get it!” And she wasn’t rude about it, but you could hear the disgust in her voice. I had made her already-monotonous job even more mundane ;c(  I felt bad as I slowly unhooked my cart from the edge of the aisle. I mean, there were people everywhere. At 2:45pm on a Thursday afternoon no less. I was a weavin’ in and out of those aisles like a pro!! Picked up about 29 more items than I went there to get, and managed to get a few more Christmas gifts checked off my list that need to be shipped. I’m sure I’ll be meandering in the Fed Ex store like NEXT WEDNESDAY with my tail between my legs and a debit charge of $300 to get the boxes to their rightful destinations. I do it every year too!!! And every year I say to myself that I’m not going to wait till the last minute to get the boxes together. Having to go to that funeral the first week of December really threw me off tho’. But I wouldn’t have missed Aunt Linda’s memorial for the world. I keep reflecting on that trip…..  It was so nice to be able to hang out with Uncle Rich and little Rich and David, his wife, Stacey and their daughter, Ella. It’s like I got to finally get acquainted with them… face to face… Aunt Linda would constantly keep me updated on all their happenings, as she was my very bestest pen pal in the whole wide world. So I’ve always known what was going on in their lives. But I had never been to Aunt Linda’s house before. And you know how you know someone, but have never been to their house? And you keep a mental image in your head of what their house may look like. Or when they refer to “sitting at my desk” in their letters or emails, you automatically make an image in your head of what that room or desk or computer looks like. I guess it’s human nature quite honestly…  Well, when I walked into Aunt Linda and Uncle Rich’s house, it felt like I was walking into home. All these years of never having been there, only having the image in my head of what she described her life to be. The 12″ old farm house plank wooden floors in her kitchen. They live in an old old house out in the country in rural New Jersey……  just like what you would imagine…. And it was the holidays too. When I walked in there were flower arrangements everywhere, from people sending Aunt Linda flowers before she died. I spotted the vase of colorful gerberas sitting on the table where her hospital bed had been. They were a little droopy and on their way out, but they still sat there. And I looked at them and thought,,, man,,, she maybe didn’t get to see these ;c( … But the place was covered in flowers, and the food… my gosh the food that all their friends and neighbors continuously kept dropping off in droves. You’d have thought they were on a 5 minute interval schedule of food drop offs!! Halloween decorations still hung on the doors and on shelves. Aunt Linda loved to decorate for all the holidays, and she became too ill to switch out the halloween deco and put up Thanksgiving/Christmas… ;c(   I got to meet their dear friends, Linda and Wes and their son. Not to mention the 100′s of people that Aunt Linda knew in that town. Everyone in Brookside, New Jersey knew Aunt Linda. She was the gem of that community. She still IS the gem of that community and I know not only will I miss her, but that whole town is gonna miss her. She was a first aid team squadron captain there in Brookside for many years, until she got sick and had to step down. The 100′s of medics and firefighters that loved her… all of them respected and adored her. It was a great trip for Eric and I despite the circumstances of having to go. All of Eric’s family lives either in the midwest or out on the East Coast, and I got to meet some for the first time, and again see a few. The memorial service was a celebration, not your typical funeral. There was just as much laughter as there were tears…  She was near and dear to many.

ugh…..  so sad…. now I’m in a depressed mood. This December has been chaotic for me. But what’s interesting is that even tho’ it’s been pure chaos and mad catching up with work, I’ve managed to feel the Christmas Spirit this year more than ever. I haven’t really had the ability to express it with decorating my house, or baking or wrapping gifts or any of that…. But it’s pretty thick in my heart this year. The reason we all celebrate Christmas.. The birth of Jesus. I’ve had to drop to my knees several times during this mad rush of orders. Just praying for His strength and wisdom and grace to get me through it. And He always prevails. Jesus always always prevails….  And on that note, as my UPS man, Sean pulls up in my driveway with more silver for me to stamp and chains to hang it on… I’ve got to go….  There is a light at the end of my tunnel and I WILL get to the other side.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS!!!!!