Pause

Just breathe.

It feels like there is so much that needs to be done. In truth, nothing really NEEDS to get done. I know that, I do. But the anxiety surrounding the holidays got to me yesterday. I needed to take a breath, close my eyes, and listen to something beautiful.

Do something special for yourself today, and take a moment to just listen to a favorite Christmas song. Slow down, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and forget about gifts to be finished, baked, bought or ordered, the wrapping paper, the cookies, the big dinner.

You will still have plenty of time to rush about, and get it all done. But for this moment, just pause.


There are many Christmas songs that I love. But there's this one song, when I hear it the tears flow. I thought I'd share it today. (If it won't load for you, here's the link)

Audrey Assad -- Winter Snow

A last-minute manly man gift

A shoe shine kit for my son, who works in an office and wears dress shoes every weekday.

The only thing that I had to go out and buy was the tin of brown polish. The rest I had, here at home.

The case was an old-fashioned men's shave kit case, the kind older gents used before 911. I bought it as a gift for someone, who unexpectedly passed away just a short time later, never even taking the tags off of it.

The mat is flannelized rubber sheeting. I had 2 large rectangles of this leftover from making crib mattress pads for my daughters, 18 years ago. I used pinking sheers to cut a piece large enough to place 2 dress shoes on for polishing, to reduce the risk of getting polish on the carpet. I rolled it up and secured with a large rubber band.

The polishing cloths are squares that I cut from flannel scraps leftover from making myself some pj pants. Again, I used pinking shears for the edges. I made two cloths, and placed them into a sandwich bag, just to keep the kit all clean and tidy.

The tin of shoe polish cost a whopping $1.86 including tax, at a local grocery super-store. When I walked in the door, I picked up the week's flyers. On the front page of the home and clothing flyer was a coupon for 15% off anything from the shoe department -- talk about good fortune!

A manly man gift. Almost done with my son's gifts.