Days Roll On

Had a mini meltdown today. Worrying about the bills and other crap drove me to the brink. *sigh* I guess it's gotta happen at least once a month. Ok....it happens more often sometimes but not usually. I know everyone has a breaking point and it's worse when things are very stressful. The upside is my youngest,Hanyuu is very low maintainance. LOL Her entire xmas wish list consists of 3 things, 2 ps2 games and one music cd. *smile* When she was in 6th grade, the list had about 15 things give or take. Last year it had 8 or so and now this year....3. LOL She loves her video games,drawing,and music. Oh, a few movies but evidently this year not anything she HAS to have. Luckily the total bill is $70 for the 3 and we'll fill out a tree full of presents with bath stuff,drawing pads,pencils,stuffies,figurines and some candy.

In our house we have 2 holidays. The first comes December 21,the 1st day of Winter/Winter Solstice, a celebration of the return of light. The Goddess gives birth the baby Sun God, who in the coming months grows until Summer is here and light rules once again. Even though it's still cold and dark this represents renewed hope to the warmth of summer. Back in the bad 'ol days, winter was a season of death,despair,stagnation and a time of great food shortage. Many people died during the winter due to lack of a good diet and being shut up in those small houses disease was also something that spread rapidly and killed people too. There was no such thing as insulation,so their houses were always cold and drafty which added to the incidence of sickness.

So, lesson over and back to what I was saying. On the 21st we have a Yule dinner with lots of laughter. Soon after it gets dark, we turn off every light in the house and gather round the coffee table. I wrote my own ritual to celebrate the returning light. I begin by saying a few words and light a candle, then I continue speaking while Hanyuu lights a candle, and continue and finish up while Gil lights the 3rd candle. Then we jump up and run around turning on every light in the house in celebration. It really is a lot of fun. :-D Then, the "best" part of the night comes, for Hanyuu at least. LOL She gets to open a couple of presents. She is the one who decides which she'll open on Yule. Funnily enough she has never, ever opened any big presents, just 2-4 small ones. Her attitude is to save the biggest for last cause they're usually the best ones! *big smile* After all that she's more than able to wait for 3 more days until xmas. Well, for OUR xmas anyway. Gil has always had to work on xmas. In 15 years he's only been home for 1 xmas all day long. Hence the reason we do xmas on the 24th.

Thanks to the school for the 3rd year we will have a Thanksgiving dinner. I thought I'd put that down for everyone. You all know how hard it's been for us and knowing you as I do, I also know you've probably been wondering if we'd even have a Thanksgiving or not. Rest assured, it'll be a great one. Any child getting free or reduced lunch is given a Thanksgiving "basket" and also helped at xmas time too. They give you canned goods,stuffing, the basics and a gift card for Publix to get a turkey the right size for your family and any extras you might need. We got our turkey today as well as rolls and a couple of other things. I had the makings for pumpkin pies from last year so we're all set! *really big smile*

Guess I'll go for now.