Suddenly So Excited

It's lucky for me that I have extra time on my hands these days because I have created a big project for myself. I'm suddenly VERY excited about the upcoming holidays. I have decided to become a Christmas Candy-maker this year, and my loved ones will reap the rewards. I have been reading cook books and recipes for days trying to come up with a perfect combination of candies and confections to share this winter. Mmm mmm mmm. So far I've practiced up on white chocolate peppermint bark and dark chocolate truffles. I got some darling little "Made with Love by Amy" labels for packaging. I really love Christmas. The process of stocking up on all the ingredients (sugar and chocolate basically), setting up my kitchen to produce large quantities of good quality candy, actually making it all, storing, packaging, decorating, it is all so much fun to me. Maybe I will become a professional candy maker...

I did the very first bit of my Christmas shopping this week, which also piqued my excitement. I have gifts for a few people and ideas for a few more. I think we'll do a bit more shopping this weekend in Austin, although the shopping I do this year will not even compare to what I did last year, so ya know. I'm on a mission, to have all my gifts bought and wrapped, as well as the candy made and packaged, to be mailed by December 1, since I am leaving town that week. I can do it, that's plenty of time.

Sadly, we will not be getting a Christmas tree this year. Since I will be gone for most of December and we won't be at home for the holiday, there is no point. It's only sad for me because I absolutely LOVE decorating our house for Christmas. Joseph is glad to be without the hassle and money spent on "all this Christmas shit". Our tree last year was so sweet and we had such a really lovely awesome Christmas here together. I was looking forward to enjoying the peaceful and quiet Powderhorn Christmas like last year... but plans change, and being with family will be great too. We will still be putting the lights and wreaths up on the back fence, of course, it is way too wonderful to skip.

Thanksgiving will be just the two of us and we'll celebrate on Sunday. Joseph will have to be at Lorraine's on Thanksgiving for a show (that's actually one of the busiest nights of the year) so we'll have a small meal that day and a real all-out holiday the following Sunday.

Getting ready for the holidays means that another year has come and gone. The years seem to disappear faster each year and I hear that it only gets faster. I feel like I didn't achieve enough this year, but I don't think I'll be satisfied with the passing of a year until there are three of us at the end of it. I made a similar comment to Joseph recently, to which he replied: "we traveled, camped at some beautiful lakes, saw both of our families, cooked and ate and drank like royalty, bought a car, lived and loved and were happy, you got into shape and I can count on my fingers how many times all year that we used an alarm clock... what more could you want from twelve months?" I love his happy & content outlook, it's priceless and I'm lucky to spend every day with someone so pleasant, but I am driven by things I cannot control to want more. We're on our way and our life will happen the way it's meant to happen, so I strive to achieve Joseph's level of satisfaction and gratitude in our every day life.