Chickenlips Knitting

Top photo: My mother's tastefully decorated, artificial tree which went up the day after Thanksgiving, complete with packages for all of us (me, Jason, Michelle, my brother and his wife) perfectly wrapped and sporting big sexy bows. Mom does this every year--we all take turns opening, then she serves desserts. She does all her Christmas baking in November and freezes everything, and starts asking for everyone's Christmas lists in October. She is the queen of planning ahead in all things.

Bottom photo: The Noble fir in our living room, put up by Jason and decorated by Michelle. Kitten-proofing kind of fell by the wayside, so almost a half dozen ornaments got strafed by Hannibal. (I'm going shopping this week for the shatterproof ornaments.) Most of the gifts under the tree were hastily wrapped/packaged by me late last night, and arranged using the tried-and-true "yeah, whatever" method.

It took me a lot of years and much self-castigation before I could understand that every family can have only one perfect person. In our family, that role went to my mom. I love her dearly and appreciate her more than ever; tonight, when she was slicing cake, I saw her hands tremble. I know that in the years to come, Mom won't be able to give us the kind of Christmas she takes pride in doing, and although that is a sad thought, I also know that Christmas happens whether we're artful or casual about it. It's also a matter of priorities--I'm too wrapped up in my chosen art form to care too much how my house looks. Actually I'm a lot happier when I don't notice! Seriously, what matters to me about this holiday and my loved ones is that I do what I am able to do for them, and I did what I could. Pulled it out of my *ahem* at the eleventh hour, as usual. Merry Christmas, everybody!

This neato package came USPS Priority today.