Sheila Day 24: Comfort and JOY!
I thought that I might get off the hook this year for Christmas baking, and just a day or two ago, I articulated that to one of my friends. I DID state that IF I was going to get a request, it would be from Jordan for peanut butter kisses. It is 4 days before Christmas, and late yesterday, the request finally came in. He figured that Mr. 4.0 this semester NEEDED mom's cookies. I think Rah's blog last night had me thinking about "comfort of home" so I was happy to oblige the request. Of course that meant that I had to go and do a little shopping first thing this morning at Walmart.
Santa needed to do a little shopping to so I headed down the candy isle, only to discover, ALL OF THE CHRISTMAS CANDY IS GONE! Oh nooooo . . . and then I looked closer, and what I saw was, wait for it, are you ready, here it comes . . . are you KIDDING ME, VALENTINE'S DAY CANDY! Holy Hannah this is a new one and I really just wanted to go back home and withdraw into my bubble. Even though Christmas is full of high's and low's, I am not even close to being ready to lose the albeit brief feelings of comfort and joy. So here goes . . . loads and loads of COMFORT and JOY! Hopefully, even Rah will feel the warmth of a little Hot Cocoa Home tonight when she reads after work.
After I saw the Valentine's Day candy, I made a decision, today was about COMFORT. For me, often comfort is found in food hence my weight actually IS an issue. I have really been watching what I eat, and in the midst of the holiday season, I have actually lost a little weight. I keep track of what I eat and have been faithful, but today, I let that go and gave myself the gift of a day free from calories and tracking. That being said, I had my first comfort. McDonalds peppermint mocha . . . yummy! I love the Christmas in a cup flavor and I smiled as its warmth went from my mouth into my stomach . . . I might have actually even moaned a little and sighed as I closed my eyes. Just a lil taste of heaven!
Then I decided that China King was in order. I would not eat it for lunch, but rather would save it for supper. However, I ordered up my favorites and was met by Shirley's welcoming smile as always. I am a regular! I usually splurge once a week, and weirdly enough, there is something comforting about my favorites and the happy place it comes from. After I picked it up, I trekked for home to bake. I love to bake as it is therapeutic for me. I typically do not eat what I bake, but rather opt to give it away. I am not a big sweet eater so it is not one of my temptations, but today felt a little different? Perhaps a splurge was in order:)
When I started the baking process, I realized I was out of brown sugar. UGHHHHH! Hate that as town is kinda far away. I called my landlord and they happened to have some which he bopped over. I turned on the TV and all of my old favorites were on. Frosty and Rudolf and Alvin and the Chipmunks were the sounds that warmed my cozy little house. The cookies were soon baking and I went to sit in the living room so I could peel off the wrappers. Soon I had help . . . a lot of help. Cats like CHOCOLATE!
Pretty soon the house smelled glorious! The Christmas tree was on and the lights were glowing. The cookies were covering my counter and I felt the warmth and comfort of home. I prepared plates of cookies for my landlord and some friends around the neighborhood. Jordan got a HUGE container which I will deliver tomorrow. I have a confession. I did not eat one cookie, or two, or three, or even four . . . I thoroughly enjoyed six cookies. My lunch was sweet cookies, with a huge glass of cold milk, and warm chocolate kisses melting in my mouth . . . it was glorious!
When my landlord came to pick up his cookies he brought my mail and in it today was a special little unexpected gift. My mama always said if we get one good friend from high school we are very lucky and I have Mary. Mary and I have been friends since we were little girls. I could and still can tell her ANYTHING and she knows EVERYTHING. She has been with me through it all. We celebrated weddings, we had babies, we watched them grow, we had family drama and pain, we watched our babies get married and we watched each others babies get married, we have laughed, cried, been angry, and survived as friends. Today, another little comfort that brought me joy came from her.
I got a beautiful pair of socks that I am wearing tonight as I write. They are called sole-mates and the coolest thing is that they don't MATCH! Each sock is uniquely different from the one it is a mate to, and whereas the colors match, the socks do not! The thought made me smile, the note made me happy, and the socks do keep my "tootsies" warm and they brought me a kiss of comfort for my day.
I was tired after baking and cuddled in to take a nap . . . mmmmmmmm. It was so nice to snuggle into a blanket, turn on the Lampoon's Christmas, and be lazy for an hour or so. I don't know when I have enjoyed a nap so much as I did today. When I got up, I warmed up my Chinese and watched The Santa Clause . . . I LOVE that movie!
I had a ton of wrapping to do, and I actually LOVE to wrap packages. I love the way the paper feels, the way the carefully chose items get tucked into their boxes and wrapped in ribbons and bows. I love pretty paper, unique bows, and putting things in packages to throw the kids off. As they have gotten older, I have not had to do that as much as they no longer are around to shake their packages as they once did. Life certainly does change . . . sigh . . . I drug up all of my gifts, my paper, my bows, the tape, 2 scissors (I always lose one), and 2 pens (I lose them too). I decided tonight I could use a tool belt for my wrapping tools!
I had TONS and TONS of help for this process too! Both kitties played while Sophie sat in the chair and watched the fiasco ensue. Little Dumpster Kitten had so much fun! She played and played, got in trouble for climbing the Christmas tree, and everything got wrapped that needed to. Today was about comfort, and although there is now a new normal, we do take things from the past the give us comfort, bring them into the present where they are a gift, and open them.
Sarah Day 24: Comfort and JOY
I was up for HOURS last night trying to write my blog post. I had my worst case of writers block ever and that is NOT an exaggeration. It was terrible. What I was thinking in my head just didn’t sound right on my post. I would write, and then delete, and then write, and then delete until finally I decided that my blog was good enough. Finally, at 3:00am . . . after four long hours and one short post, I was going to go to sleep, thoroughly unsatisfied with the ending of what I wrote.
When I woke up this morning I had a text from mom that said “blog was awesome.” I opted to call her the second I woke up and explain in words what I was trying to put down on paper. Or, on screen I suppose. I was relieved when she understood exactly what I was trying to say. It’s not Christmas that lets me down, it’s the feeling that lets me down. She said that it is indeed a part of growing up but that we sometimes remember things better than they actually were. She explained to me that one day when I have children, I will try to create that “hot chocolate for the soul” for my own children, and one day they will probably feel the exact same way that I have felt.
When we were chatting, mom said that she was out doing some shopping and that she was going to have a cozy day where she makes cookies for my “4.0” brother, wraps the Christmas gifts, and orders Chinese food. When I heard her say “4.0”, I suddenly felt like I was in 9th grade again and Jordan in 11th. Jordan has ALWAYS been naturally smart. School comes easy to him. Unlike some of us, like myself, where I have always had to work far too hard for my grades. I used to roll my eyes and mock my brother when he would talk about the “100%” he scored on his test, or the “A” he got on his paper. “Oh look at that, Jordan got an A again and he didn’t even study, how convenient.” So today, when mom said she was baking cookies for her 4.0 son (or however she said it,) I rolled my eyes a bit and mocked him in my head. Although I do recall actually saying to mom that it “must be rough being a 4.0 student.” That was a very Sarah comment. Perhaps it wasn’t the best way to say that I was proud of him. Ha. That’s what I call sisterly love!
Moms post today made me smile. I think it’s great that she spend the day in her home, baking cookies, watching movies, eating Chinese, and wrapping presents with the kitties. Mom does have the ideal cozy home. I always tell her that the second I walk in her door, I want to snuggle up with a blanket and take a nap. Her house is tiny, but it’s super cute and really comfy. I can only imagine how much more comfortable her home is with the smell of fresh cookies lingering through the house. Mom definitely did have a “comfort and joy” sort of day.
Comfort does bring us joy though, doesn’t it? We do find joy in the things that are comforting to us. After reading what mom wrote about her day, I couldn’t help but think about the next time I can have a “comfort and joy” sort of day. One of those days that I don’t work or even think about work. Hopefully a day where the house is already clean, because a messy house is not cozy or comforting! I foresee this day starting around 10:00am, because that’s when I’ll wake up. Then I’ll probably eat a bowl of cereal, take a shower, and put some sweats on. After that, it will probably be noon, so that means it would be time for a nap. I would nap until around 3:00pm, and then turn on Netflix to watch Grey’s Anatomy for ohh, say, six hours or so . . . because once I start Grey’s, I can’t stop. Then at 9:00pm, I would drag my lazy bum up to my bed where I would watch Friends until I fall asleep. I would probably have chocolate, Brisk iced tea, and gluten free pretzels next to me at all times during my cozy day. Along with my three cats, and possibly Jesse, if he’s free. Man on man, I am having serious withdrawals right now from a lazy day!
I think it’s extremely important for us to give ourselves a break once in a while and really focus on not focusing on anything. Those days are refreshing, and we are busy people. Some of us work long hours, or multiple jobs. Some of us work in a chaotic and fast-paced environment where our feet hurt when we finally have a chance to sit down. Some of us work a job that’s emotionally exhausting that carries with us all the time. Most of us have a hard time shutting our brain off at the end of the day when we finally crawl into bed. And even though we love what we’re doing and we love being busy, we NEED to take our personal days to relax and regroup. Those days bring true comfort and joy!
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