All I Want For Christmas . . .

It really isn't that hard to think about things you want or things that would be nice to have. When Eric's sister asked us what we wanted for Christmas over instant message, we ended up with this little chat:

Michelle: What do you want for Christmas?

 Sherry: the seventh and eighth harry potter movies.

 Michelle: Really?

 Sherry: well, i do want them.

  also i want a Kindle or other such ereader.

  and i want curtains for my kitchen and back doors.

  and an area rug in my living room.

 Michelle: Hold up

 Sherry: and a runner rug in my hallway downstairs.

  and a bedroom set.

 Michelle: What can we give you with our budget?

 Sherry: :)

 let's go with the bedroom set.

 Michelle: ha ha ha

  is cardboard okay?

 me: as long as it's a sleigh bed.

 Michelle: we'll spray paint it whatever color you'd like.

 me: dark wood.

  but not cherry.

 Michelle: Brown then...

 me: and not black.

  yeah, a darkish brown, but not too dark.

 Michelle: "Grandfather's shoe" brown then

 me: also, more bookshelves. we need more bookshelves.

 Michelle: STOP ALREADY!

So you see, I'm never at a loss for things that I want, especially things for my home. And then when I start thinking about the fact that our back yard has to be in place by next July, and our gold car has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and our red car cannot possibly run much longer than the gold, and Ike has just about outgrown his infant car seat and on and on and on, I can find myself becoming a little overwhelmed.

Yesterday was not the perfect Saturday. Ike is still getting over this odd stomach bug that we expected to last 48 hours and his gone on for more like 96. Eric got called in to cover a shift. In the olden days that would mean overtime, but now it just means extra work for no extra money because he is on salary. My house was messy because I'm not ordinarily an amazing housekeeper PLUS Ike and I have been sick. My house was also cold because I keep it cold to save money on utilities. Whine whine whinewhinewhine ad nauseum.

And then I remembered some awesome things. My husband has a job. I also have a job. We have a home to live in. We all have good health. We can afford to buy the things we need and some of the things we want. I thought a lot about my brother-in-law serving a mission in Ghana, who had recently been working in a Liberian refugee camp. I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I could go on and on with our many blessings, but just thinking about those was enough to pull me out of my self-absorbed doldrums.