Really…there just isn’t. I swear to my God that I have twenty eleven different things that must be done and I really only ever accomplish about ten of them. ( and really that is only when I am really focused) So, we are getting ready for the holiday season. Yes that means putting up the decorations, and making things and cooking and making sure that the house is clean enough for company. We haul out the twinkle lights and make everything really sparkley….mostly because I love all things sparkley.
We have a neighbor that really loves the sparkle too. We live fairly close to the Atlanta airport, and I will say right here that I worry that the neighbors house is going to confuse a pilot and we will wake up one night to wheels skidding across our roof. I mean to tell you, those folks light up ever thing they can FIND over there. It is a hot joyful mess, and it is one of my favorite things. In fact, I love to drive around different neighborhoods to find little treasures just like that one. People who are so into the spirit of the holiday and the celebration of the light that they are compelled to find every light, ribbon and jingle bell and display it with wild abandon, right in their front yard. It’s just bliss, y’all. Twinkle light heaven and a blow up Santa….makes me clap and make loud whooping noises. Big love on it. …and I admire them and their use of good time management, because it is all I can do to get the darned tree up.
When you work for yourself, your time is never yours. It’s a problem that we have been trying to find a solution for, so we went out and did what all smart people do that have time issues….we got a puppy.
His name is Jasper and his daddy is a Yorkie and his momma is a Chihuhua/Yorkie mix. They call him a Chorkie. I call him a three pound turd in a little blue sweater. He is more than precious and quite a handful. That tiny hound has taken up most of the free time that we had previously. But, an amazing thing happened when he came into our household. As we began our falling in love with him time, we began to stay home more often. We quit going out to dinner every night. We quit working so late at night. We started spending more time with one another while tending to the “baby” and we started to enjoy spending quiet time with one another again. Suddenly the Casbah feels a little warmer and a lot more cozy since we brought in that little ball of hair and teeth named Jasper Tallpoosa Landrum-Rushing.
We take him with us almost everywhere we go. People love him. I see the sparkle in their eyes when they pet him and I see the love in his when he gives good dog love to a stranger. He is our little harbinger of good will and love. He is never afraid, really not of anything. He chooses to love instead. He is new to this world and is still fresh in the ways of Spirit.
Of course we are spoiling him rotten and he spoils us with his kisses and cuteness. He is 12 weeks old now, and can sit on command and is proficient at peeing outside. He will not poop in the rain. grr. Really, if I am being honest…I might not be able to do it either. Cold water is nerve making.
I will keep you up to date with the good loving Jasper. You all get your trees up and your twinkle on and show me some pictures!
I am putting up a pic of Jasper in his Sherpa coat.
🙂 Love you meeces to pieces
Smooch Out with a lick up a nostril ( yeah he does that..gah!)
Love Yourself Through It! 
Sending Christmas cheer to you and your sweet family. May we all slow down a little and ignore that ticking clock (which sounds like the blue light special at Kmart) telling us that Santa Claus is coming to town. May we all find a little time to snuggle with someone we love, give a smile and hold open a door for stranger. For me too, it is hard to focus on the spirit of the season when I also have a “Griswald” living across the street. She even has a giant snow globe with a “lifelike” Santa on a toy train, riding round and round inside while his elves dance to the continuous looping of five classic Christmas tunes. For years now I have stood at the window looking like the Grinch and declaring, “Good God, that is just tacky!” while my Dad gazed out the window hypnotized by all the twinkling lights and goof ball reindeer moving their heads up and down robotically to jingle bells. This year my Dad is not here with us and last night I was tickled when she finally “turned on the lights” across the street. “Look Melissa turned on the lights!” I screamed with delight! My husband came running and we stood together missing Dad and our family so far away. Suddenly, we saw what my Dad had seen all those years and we sang along to Jingle Bell Rock and put on a pot of hot chocolate! Merry Christmas Susan…and Sondra…and Megan and your newest member …. Little Jasper!