Gosh, things have been so busy for me lately… I’ve had lots to say and no time to say it!

I’ve been really busy with a new project. I started helping my church launch a free clinic and it turned into a part-time (volunteer) job. I’m now the administrator of the clinic! I know it seems crazy, but I’m loving it. I feel so strongly that health care is a human right (rather than a privilege) so working on the clinic falls right in line with those beliefs.

On top of that, it’s retail-crazy-time at Tangle, which I’m also loving! I love that my job is to buy yarn and fabric all day.

In the little spare time I’ve been finding myself with, I’ve been busy making gifts and treats. I’m still unsure as to what our family traditions surrounding Christmas will be. I was raised celebrating (and loving) Christmas. But never really celebrated it those 12 years I was married to Jim. In those 12 years I saw the reasoning and maybe value(?) in Jim’s beliefs surrounding the holiday. But I’ve also seen how it’s kept us from loving our friends and family in the ways they receive love. My friend Amy has an epic Christmas party every year and I’ve missed out on it. And I’ve missed out on showing her how much I love her by attending.

This year I’m faced with making new traditions for my family and I’m kind of at a loss. It’s times like this that I really feel my single-mom-ness. It’s hard to be the leader of a family when it’s a job meant for two. So this year we’re easing into Christmas. I’m trying to find my way and decide what our traditions will be. I’m trying to decide what I really think and feel and believe about the holiday so I can pass that along to my children.

I love presents. I love getting them and giving them and I love that this is a time of year to really show our loved ones that we love them by gifting them with something thoughtful. But I also hate how consumeristic it is (says the owner of a retail store). My kids are only getting one gift this year because they don’t need anything. They already have so much that they aren’t thankful for.

So I guess that’s the start of a tradition – one gift each… Showing our friends and family that we love them by participating with them… Buying gifts for those that are less fortunate… I guess we really are easing our way in. And I guess that’s they way I have to do it – the only way I know how.