The Six Phases of Christmas

There seem to be several steps to Christmas every year. In my family it goes a little like this:
Phase 1: "OH MY GOSH IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!"
During this stage, my mom starts making gifts and compiling things for everyone she knows. I'm not exaggerating. Our dining room explodes in a bomb of wrapping paper, ribbon, glitter and sharpies. I'm always amazed because she thinks of everyone from neighbors, to relatives, to that random old man from church that we haven't seen in ten years.

Phase 2: " DECORATE EVERYTHING!!!!"
Out of the dusty basement come the boxes of stockings, ornaments, lights and the prized Christmas village. It's officially time to decorate. My sisters and I have enough energy to practically run a small country and we pump up the music, and roll out the cookie dough.There is, it seems, no limit to what we can accomplish.

Phase 3: (approximately 2 days later) "CAN WE BE DONE NOW?"
I think at some point we reach this stage, but aren't quite willing to admit it. The tree is decorated and the majority of gifts wrapped, so we're feeling pretty accomplished and now all we want to do is sleep, eat, and watch It's a Wonderful Life.

Phase 4: "NO! YOU AREN'T DONE UNTIL CHRISTMAS IS!"
The marching orders come in. Continue on. String more lights. Wrap more gifts. Bake more cookies. You want to watch a movie? That's just too bad. There are Church Windows to be made! And so, we continue on.

Phase 5: "THANK GOODNESS! IT'S FINALLY HERE!"
That glorious moment when Christmas actually arrives is one of complete bliss for children and adults alike and everyone in my family goes to Mass, comes home to eat and proceeds to fall asleep after opening presents. The hard work has paid off.

Phase 6:  (12 days later...) "CLEAN UP TIME!"
"ummmm...... what? Clean-up? What's that? Nah, I don't do that. Can't we just leave the tree up all year? "

                                                 THE END (UNTIL NEXT YEAR THAT IS)

Yoga...so that happened.

Today was one of those ultra-productive days. You know, those mornings that happen about once every eleven years, in which you wake up feeling like you can conquer the world? Yeah, today was one of those. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that I had slept in my own bed the night before, and gotten a good nine hours. (what?!?!?! That happened?) Yep, NINE beautiful hours of sleep. So from there I proceeded to have my much-loved cup of steaming hot coffee, grade my younger sister's homework, start a fire in our woodstove, single-handedly decorate our Christmas tree, and then make stir-fry for dinner. I have to say, it felt pretty great and was one of the first days in a long time where I felt really productive. The Christmas tree, by the way, looks pretty good, if I do say so myself,( other than the star deciding to be stubborn and not straighten out.) Also, my mother happens to be one of the most creative and talented women on this earth and her idea this year was to decorate pine cones with glitter for the ornaments. It looks like this...

So after jamming out to the Elf soundtrack, and successfully making an edible meal, I went and did something entirely new. I attended a Yoga class. My mom and sister both urged me to do it and I warily agreed. It turned out to be a highly, um...educational, experience. For one thing, I learned that my 15 year-old sister is a total yoga pro. While I was wobbling around, trying helplessly to balance on one foot and hold my other ankle in the air, all the while attempting to avoid awkward eye contact with the instructor, my little sis was calmly perched on one foot, like she'd been born doing it. The rest of the session was actually not too bad, although I had to stop myself from bursting into uncontrollable laughter when the teacher told me to lay on the floor, and proceeded to turn out the lights and drum in the darkness, urging everyone to "inhale and remember their gratitudes". Gratitudes? Not sure that's actually a word. Anyway, overall, I have to admit, Yoga felt great, and drumming aside, was pretty effective. I'm looking forward to doing it again. It's time now, however, for Sleepytime Vanilla tea and a meeting with my pillow. So, how do you say it? "Namaste!"