Holiday Stress

Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays. I love that they just kind of blend together for one month of celebrating. I love what each holiday stands for. I love the increased goodwill of men and women everywhere. However, my holiday month is filled with a lot of stress because that's when I work on selecting and ordering dance costumes for the upcoming dance recital.

This project is a very time consuming process. I price the costumes, size them for each girl, and get a costume paper to each parent with all the needed information. I collect the funds, record each payment, deposit the checks, and then order each costume, each pair of tights, the props, accessories, etc.,  This is all the while running the dance studio as usual.

Because I have so many students, it takes a very long time to do this by myself. Tonight, I just finished up the last costume order and I feel great relief. I also feel like I just ran a half-marathon. 

I wonder how I ever got into this dilemma which has been going on for the last 20 years. It seems normal to me now. I watch others who seem to have time and can relax more. I wonder how I can lessen this stress that takes over every year. 

I put off a lot of things during the holidays, including decorating and shopping. William and I have even decided this year that we wouldn't pull out the decorations because we're still working on our kitchen, and we'll be with our children for much of the holidays. I have the home looking a little festive, but there's so much more I'd like to do.

What adds to the stress is that the last few years I have to have the orders finished before Christmas. I can't seem to get the orders done any earlier no matter how hard I try. To add to my stress, I decided I needed to take an algebra test before Christmas as well. That was extra challenging. (I'm on a time line with this class and am behind in it as it is.)

My daughter-in-law thinks that I can do it all. I really can't. I have as much time as everyone else, and things will fall apart as I place some things at higher priorities at times. I juggle a lot and will eventually get to everything I want to do (like last night I finally cleaned out my fridge and cleaned my home). But a lesson to my children is that you need to prioritize and spend the most time where it matters. Time with your children and husband or wife matters most. Other things can wait. And sometimes one priority has to be at the top for a little while, even though other things matter more. Life is a balancing act, and our choices determine who we become and what is important to us. 

It's hard to simplify when you've committed to certain things. I'm committed to taking a college class and step by step earning my degree. I'm committed to being a professional dance teacher who is organized. I'm committed to other things as well—the question is, what do I drop, if anything? That is hard for me. Everything I do has purpose and passion. I'm going to have to look extra deep to find answers to this question. I've always been someone who puts a lot on my plate (ha, figuratively and sometimes literally). Demanding church callings also adds to the load, and they've been part of our family's lives, almost ever since we've lived in Ohio.

However, we're counseled in General Conference to simplify our lives. And so, I will begin to attempt this, even though at this point, I don't know how.

I would love to turn costumes over to someone (I've done that with the bookkeeping before) but it's not that easy. Another dance teacher in the area has her daughter now working for her and they're a team. That's really the ideal. 

I'm just trying to figure out a better way to work this system. I don't have answers at this point, just questions. But that's the beginning of discovering isn't it?

Now that the test has been taken and costume ordering is done, I will be able to enjoy being with my family 100% of the time now that these two major stresses are relieved for now. I'm really looking forward to relaxing with my family. I'll be able to spend quality time with those I so seldom see. I have the best family in the world and I'd rather be with them than anyone, period! 

I've felt the Spirit of Christmas this season. Thomas S. Monson says the Spirit of Christmas really is the Sprit of Christ. I have felt that deeply in my heart. I've committed to 26 random acts of kindness in honor of the Sandy Hook Elementary victims. I've been able to help and serve and give more at this time of year. I've thoroughly been moved by Christmas songs and have loved sharing the Christmas spirit with children. 

I am a blessed woman. I have an incredible life. And, I do love this time of year. Merry Christmas to you. 

Well, the story of out kitchen continues:

Six months ago, construction workers came to our home and completely gutted our kitchen. Our old kitchen was probably built in the 1940's. Anyway, as of last week, I finally have a kitchen sink, stovetop, and countertops. I've had a dishwasher and oven for about 6 weeks now. For the rest of the time I went WITHOUT any of those. Can I tell you how hard it was not having a working kitchen for that long?

The biggest thing, hands down that I missed was my kitchen sink.. William and I did so much work ourselves on our kitchen project including carrying in all of the cabinets and ovens and installing them; installing the kitchen floor; installing all the kitchen lighting; stripping the radiators and repainting them; tearing down walls and rebuilding new walls; painting the kitchen; plumbing work; hooking up the gas stove; etc., ).

We did hire out some work including dry walling, rebuilding the new ceiling, some electrical and plumbing work, and installing the countertops.

We still have a lot to do, but our kitchen is finally functional! We've been cooking in our kitchen this past week and have been loving it! We're both very happy with the outcome so far and feel very blessed!

There were many times I just wanted my old kitchen back. The inconvenience of it all is hard to describe. However, we are grateful we began this major project, especially because we found very old wiring in the ceiling (knob and tube) and it really needed to be replaced. (When we bought the home, we were told there was new wiring in it.)

We've done so much work on this 100 year old home of ours. It is completely comfortable now and feels so much like home.

I'm so grateful that we can prepare meals the normal way and have others over to share meals with us as well. Today we had the missionaries over, along with another friend, and we served salmon, butternut squash, baked potatoes, broccoli and carrots, and pistachio fruit salad. It was all delicious.


Here's a few photos: