"Oh Martha, Oh Christmas!!"

I'm a little sad about my last blog post to be honest.  Not only was I depressed and gloomy...about Christmas of all things, but my grammar and use of proper tense forms were way off.  Please forgive me, I will try not to let it happen again.

But, I must tell you, a Christmas miracle occurred that night.  Nothing like THE Christmas miracle, of course, but more like a minor one in the grand scheme of things.  There I was, bemoaning my lack of Christmas spirit, when I decided to take my own advice (from the afore mentioned post) and break out some hot chocolate.  My dear friend Misty had just delivered some dee-licious Land O Lakes French Vanilla hot cocoa, and as a connoisseur of fine hot cocoas, I must admit, this one might just take the cake...er the cocoa. It warmed my very soul, THAT's how good it was.  

So then, with my warm cup in hand, I decided to do a little surfing on Facebook, because sometimes (and let's be honest here) you feel like your life is less pitiful when you read what other ding-dongs are doing on Facebook! Any hoo, I digress...I'm surfing...on Facebook. Bam! I see the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life.  One of my friends (who is an awesome photographer, by the by) had posted a picture that summed up entirely how I was feeling at that very moment...

And yet, had the power to almost single handedly transform my dreary, dreary mood! Are you ready???? 

Taken by the fabulous Jamie of JamiliaJean Photography...and yes, I can give you her number- you'll have to get your kids to cry!

How do you not love this picture?? This, my friends, was me...People wanted me to be happy - I wanted me to be happy, but I just wasn't happy! Until. I. saw. this! I laughed so hard I cried! I cried real tears! I cried because I was lacking my own JOY. I cried because the kids were crying. I cried because somewhere a mom was probably crying. I cried because at that moment, I knew I shouldn't be crying! My life is good! My life is great! And...I cried because it's Christmas time! My most favorite time of the year!  I love it! I love,  love, love, love, love Christmas time! I truly, truly do.

After shutting down FB, I wandered into the family room with my still-warm cocoa, and watched an episode of Elementary. Love that too. (Are you sensing a theme?) I am a Sherlock Holmes fan, and even though the episode had nothing to do with Christmas, it made me smile...and I just like smiling.

People, I was nearly there! Nearly back to my old Christmassy self... just one last thing.  I hadn't said a decent prayer in two weeks...other than "please don't let me get sick on the plane," and "please make the room stop spinning!" Those kind of prayers, while desperate, aren't really quality prayers.  I knelt down by my bed and offered up a truly heartfelt prayer; gratitude for the many blessings I have and the glorious (though far from perfect) life I have been blessed to lead.  I was almost in awe of the spirit that washed over me.  All of my gloom was gone, just....gone! It was replaced with happiness that had been missing for a while, and JOY...real, live, JOY! I'm usually pretty reverent during my prayers, although I believe my Father in Heaven and I have shared a few chuckles, but at the conclusion of this prayer, I said my 'Amen' and then I let the giddiness overtake me as I hugged myself and breathed out one of my favorite lines from "The Grinch;"  'Oh Martha, Oh Christmas!'

I am now officially full to the brim with Christmas Spirit! No Grinches allowed! (Except on dvd!)