ready or not

Everywhere I've gone in the last few days I've gotten the same question from people:

"Are you ready for Christmas?"

The first time I got this question (about 3 weeks ago) I was at the doctor's office and I was still in the throes of classes. I think I shocked the receptionist when I answered,

"No, I haven't really even thought about it yet."

She gave me a weird look in response. I started to qualify my answer, explaining that I can't really 'think' about Xmas until after finals week, etc. But the weird look stayed on her face....

And yesterday, when all of the other women at church were chatting about their holiday preparations, I realized that I must really be strange. One lady was saying how she doesn't mind if she can't quite get all the decor up in time--it makes it just that much more fun the next year when she 'rediscovers' the stuff she didn't use. Another was talking about the hassle of mailing packages overseas early, etc. I sat back and was very quiet. I thought about how quickly my one box of Christmas paraphenalia can be put up and taken down (2 hours, tops), and how our easy-to-assemble fake tree takes about 20 seconds to put together.

Several years ago I decided that I wouldn't ever make my holiday preparations complicated because I didn't want the decorating headaches--esp the one that comes after Christmas when it takes weeks to get all the decorations put away.

Ironically, each year the process becomes simpler, not more complex. So when other people are moaning about being "ready," I have little to add. And while they're fretting about the Martha-like perfection of their preparations, I'm sitting in a patch of sunshine on the LR floor with Ellycat--listening to carols, basking in the warm glow, and savoring every moment of the holiday season.