Being Thankful

It's that time of year again. Family, food, festivities... crowded parking lots, long lines, dwindling bank accounts... Depending on how you look at it, or what you celebrate, this time of year can be wonderful, draining or both. The more we can be thankful for, the more likely we are to enjoy the next several weeks. Our family celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah and we have 2 birthdays in December (well, since mine is the day after Christmas, I am lucky (and grateful) to get a leftover dessert with a candle). My tradition is to make beautiful hand decorated cookies for all our friends and relatives as a gift. Last year, as I was up to 2:00am many, many nights in December decorating cookies, I was reminded that I was way off target. This year my holiday strategy is to keep it simple. I am still hand decorating cookies but I am (gasp) buying simple round sugar cookies instead of rolling and cutting out shapes. I am trying to plan ahead for a few really great gifts instead of being lead astray by all the cute novelties on display and distracted by items that are dramatically reduced. I'm also going to prioritize exercising and taking care of myself. So when I'm relaxing in the bath tub instead of decorating cookies, I can send good wishes to all those I'm so grateful to have in my life - and really mean it.