A Nice Quiet Evening At Home

I had such a pleasant evening tonight. My plans for the evening got postponed, so I go to spend a relaxing evening at home. I had even left at five minutes to five this evening. Okay, so I was in at 6:45 this morning, but I still was able to leave by 5 pm. I woke up at 4:30 this morning, thinking about all of the stuff I had to get done at work. I knew there was no way I was going to get back to sleep with all of that accounting noise in my head so I figured it was best to just get up and go in and get started on the heap of paper that was accumulating on my desk.

Tonight I was able to come home, cook a great dinner, and eat it relaxed. Liesl napped next to me on the sofa. I just puttered around the house a bit, caught up on an ever growing email correspondence and even got to watch two back to back episodes of 30 Rock. That show cracks me up. I even got to do a little laundry. I also thought about some more design for my little craftroom/office, I have more ideas than I have space. I am pretty excited because my white banker's chair has shipped and is on its way here.

So now the house is really quiet. I have gotten used to the sounds of the house settling in the evening, depending on how hot, cold, wet or dry the weather is. The hardwood floors kind of creak with the temperature drop. Outside is so still. The only sounds in the room are soft puppy snores and the tapping on computer keys. I stop and reflect on a busy but productive day.

I have not yet gotten caught up in the spirit of the Christmas season. For the first time in many years I am being gentle with myself and not stressing about it. It will come. I am also coming to terms with the fact that my gifts may not be perfect to each person. There is no material thing that I can give to someone that can express how important they are to me. Instead, I can try to bring joy or a smile for a short time. The real gift is being a loyal, trusted and loving friend or family member throughout the year. It also means not trying to do things perfectly but to just do my very best. I think it is very liberating and a way to actually enjoy the holiday instead of getting through it.