Gobble, Gobble

My favorite time of the year is summer – I love heat and will take it any day over cold weather. You could probably call me a baby when it comes to cold weather because I simply don't like being cold. I can recall a time when I lived in Ireland which is a very cold country. Your heat stays on 24/7 365 days a year. You might get blessed and have 65 degree weather for no more than 2 weeks sometime between May and August but don't put all your eggs in that basket. We had moved from a house that didn't have working radiators to a house that did….after having lived in a cold house for 9 months I believe I went a little overboard on the heat because one night my husband came home and took one look at me. Of course, my face was radiantly red and I probably had sweat dripping down my brow – I was burning up and loving every minute of it because the heat had been on nonstop for hours. He said, "Sweetheart, don't you think the house is hot enough." I gleefully looked at him and said, "No! Doesn't it feel perfect in here?!" I wasn't about to turn the heat down for second no matter how hot I was. That's what shorts and a t-shirt are for. Lol!!

Now that you know my favorite season, my favorite holiday, though, happens to be in the dead of winter…well, actually, not the dead of winter but the early stages of winter even though around here in Tennessee I woke up to 17 degrees yesterday. So wrong!!! So, they call this fall! Haha! What is winter going to be like? Actually, my TN winters have been pretty calm – cold, yes, but not like Minnesota cold. Haha – I just had a revelation….I was born in Minnesota. Go figure!! I only lived there one year so my blood didn't have time to get use to frigid weather.

So, you ask, where on earth is this crazy woman going with all this cold/holiday talk? Lol! I don't have a clue myself. Haha! Actually, I do – Thanksgiving through Christmas is such a festive time of year and that's what I love about it. I get to see family I haven't seen in a year (we compare wrinkles and age spots) since we live all over the planet and get some extra special quality time with my own immediate family and I have to say…it's fantabulous. Of course, I get to warm up since the kids and I have started a Thanksgiving tradition of heading down to Florida to hang with my side of the family while Mark stays here and becomes a mountain man hunting for deer for 6 days straight. He loves it because he doesn't have to shower or shave! Haha! I've called myself a deer widow every Thanksgiving. So, whether it's just you, or you've got a bus load of family or more, I pray that you have the most beautiful holiday season this year. Don't worry about all the 'stuff' that takes place when families get together with all their lovely opinions….simply reflect on the beauty of your family – the positive things that you love like – hearing with my family: hearing my dad clear his throat (a habit he's done for years) – I can find him in a store just because of that one trademark, or my mom dancing around the kitchen with celery in her mouth singing Elvis songs as she entertains herself while cooking, or my sister constantly giggling from my silly forms of entertainment and then saying, "Does anyone need a starbucks?" Or, my brother-in-law with the t.v. remote permanently attached to his hand while he stays glued to football games, or my kids telling their Aunt, "So, when are you going to take us shopping? I brought my list." Or my oldest sister, the teacher, commenting across the room while I'm having a conversation with someone else saying, "Tracee, it's not her but she." She loves correcting people's grammar. Or, my brother trying to find someone to talk to about his hotrod car and how it goes 110 mph in 5 seconds, a story in which we've heard about every single year…haha! Yes, I have been the good sister and let him take me for a spin in that car at those warped speeds at least twice and I have to say – it's fast and quite scary. Make sure you wear a depends if you attempt this at home.

Alright, so I gave you some insight to my family gatherings and they are quite hilarious and extremely entertaining. Through the good and the quirky – I love my family and the precious times we have together. So, live it up – enjoy this holiday season and no matter whether you are in the state of plenty or the state of need – remember the awesome words of Paul…."no matter what state I am, I have learned to be content." Phil. 4:11-12

That is the joy secret to life…no matter what – be content and live it up!!

Gobble, gobble….Tracee