3 posts tagged “christmas”
I'm published! Ok, so it's just a little Op-Ed, but I'm rather proud and I didn't tell my family so it was a big surprise for them this morning.
I submitted it a couple of weeks ago, and it was the editor's decision to run it on Christmas Day...even had to change the tense and voice in some places so that it made sense running today rather than last week. Also, they made an exception to their normal maximum word count for this piece, something they normally don't do. And they've asked me to contribute in the future, so I hope it's the first of many pieces I will do for it and other publications.
More than anything, I'm proud of simply being comfortable with sharing something so very personal with a public audience that also includes my private circle of family and closest friends. That's a big milestone for me as a writer--someone who used to let only a few random strangers see her stuff. The content, however, says more for me as a woman, and a grown-up, than anything else.
Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas! Good-night!
well, this time next week i will have been home for 24hrs+ and i am so very excited and looking forward to it. it's going to be wonderful, it's going to be hard, but hey, it sure as hell won't be boring.
it's late and i should already be asleep, but i've been up photoshopping a pic of my own mug for...something important. let's just say that the prayers and good wishes of loved ones, along with my own hope and stubborn drive, have presented me with something entirely unexpected and lovely to look forward to on christmas day. some of you know what i'm referring to, but for the rest, well, you'll have to wait and see. i don't want to tell too many people...i'm hoping to surprise my family with it and i'm not sure how connected the blog-born grapevine is, if at all, to family members.
good thoughts and love go out to all of you on this final week before christmas. try to slow down and not stress about the dozens of things you legitimately have to stress about, and take some time for yourself just to enjoy a few moments of idealized, christmas-y magic. light the fireplace. watch It's a Wonderful Life. sing carols in the car on the way to see some christmas lights. be kind to yourselves, forgiving of everyone, and patient with the world. and a word to the wise...if all else fails, some mulled wine might just do the trick.
tonight on south congress, an evening walking up and down between shops of this and that in search of perfect and unique christmas gifts. giving gifts is one of my favorite things about christmas. i don't do it for quid pro quo - though i certainly enjoy it - to make the holiday for me. instead, it's like there's some sort of internal competition i'm running, this quest for something...something just right...something hopefully needed and wanted...either expressed by the person or in some cosmic way that only i have gleaned from a bit of soul or personality i've witnessed in my friends and family. i hope that whatever i give it can bring a smile to that person on at least a few days other than christmas.
for some people, i have an idea about what i'm looking for...for others, i've no friggin' clue, but inevitably i find it anyway...somewhere along my window shopping path, i stumble upon it. (that's right, i said upon it.)
a pair of carved stone elephant bookends...some painted cast iron bells from japan...beautiful chimes that tinkle so delicately they remind me of harp strings...a tiny soapstone box, carved so finely you can't see the seam between top and bottom...a t-shirt of a tortoise saying in a cartoon balloon "Sloo-oo-ooow it down, man"...a beaten up cowbell from Peru (trust me, for the recipient, this is THE perfect gift)...
and then, walking back down the street toward the capitol, as the lights strung on congress gleam ahead and the stores begin closing...there, in the window, i see it, and it's as if i'm in a movie and the music rises in the background. it's a beauty of a dress...just above the knee, made of charcoal grey knit shot through with silver threads, a high neck collar draped open, unbuttoned over detailed darts and seams...so pretty...i walk ahead to the doors...damn, they're closed! i step back away from the glass to see where i am...thank god they're closed! leave it to me to have such expensive taste. ah well, just seeing it and having it in my memory for some future heroine to wear is enough.
i walk on and head to a new candy shop/soda fountain modeled on those from a few generations ago...i order a hand-jerked (stop laughing) RC cola from the soda fountain and it is soooo good! so sweet and tasty, but a few blocks later i toss the still mostly full cup in the trash since its iciness isn't doing much to keep me warm. night has brought the temperature down a good twenty degrees and the wind has picked up and now i'm walking against it, and it is cold as balls! so i make it to jo's coffee and they've got outdoor heat lamps and can make me a hot chocolate with soy milk. heaven! and lo, there's a big chocolate lab named Charlie sitting with his owner. i pet him (Charlie, not the owner) as i start to write and soon he lays down at my feet. under the heat lamp i write in my little leather journal...the traffic of south congress zips by (does anyone go the speed limit on congress?) and i smile to myself, taking in the postcard picture of both christmas and neon lights dotting the streetscape.
and so, you see, this is why i love giving gifts - the finding of them alone is a wonderful day and a bit of a gift for myself. as for all of the people who complain and stress out about the christmas rush and shopping, blah, blah, blah...well, i say to them, abandon your malls and your endless chain stores (shop online for all that!). instead, seek out the little shops about town with character, and characters, chat lightly with strangers, and in the quick cold walks between stores, think on your loved ones. imagine their faces when they see your gifts and find something they never knew they always wanted. i think it will make both your days!
and on that note, merry christmas and happy hunting!
