When my son was little this time of year brought about a special drink. We called it Christmas Punch, and we looked forward to it every year. The first time we would have it would be Thanksgiving, then it would show up again throughout the holiday season, all the way to New Year’s Day.
We even would sometimes have it on airplanes. He would order one part and I would order the other, then I would mix it up for us. What a treat!
What is Christmas Punch? It’s just 7-Up and cranberry juice, in about equal parts.
It’s delicious, and it’s a beautiful deep pink color, just right for the festive time of year.
Well, apparently word got out, and the beverage industry now offers it pre-mixed and bottled. A couple of different versions are available. I broke down and bought a bottle today, just to try it. I brought it home, and my son tried it too. We’re in agreement, “homemade” Christmas punch is better. Maybe because we missed the pink, I don’t know. I just think that ours tastes better. Let me know if you try it.
It’s another New Year, and so it feels like a fresh start. It feels like a brand new clean sheet of paper waiting to be written on. At least that’s what I wish it felt like. The reality is slightly different.
The reality is that my house stinks like pork ramen that my teenager apparently made in the middle of the night, and there’s the remains of a partly finished bottle of champagne on the counter along with two dirty flutes and some cracker crumbs and leftover crunch-n-munch in a bowl, and there are clothes in the dryer waiting to be folded and put away, and there’s over a week’s worth of mail to be read and sorted, and bills to be paid, and suitcases to be unpacked, and yes, still boxes from the move back in July to be dealt with. Oh. My. Gawd.
Throw in the fact that the heat isn’t working properly and that we currently have no power to the master bathroom, and all of a sudden the New Year is feeling sort of overwhelming. In fact, I don’t think I have six square feet of space anywhere in this house where I feel like everything is as it should be, even if I disregard the cold factor.
I wanted to start 2015 with a bang. I wanted to refocus and reenergize. I wanted to make it the BEST. YEAR. EVER. But here it is, not even 9 am and I realizing that maybe that goal is just a little too lofty. I need to readjust. So here’s what I’m going for instead. I’m going to do the best I can. And some days maybe even not that. I’m going to focus on the small victories, like the fact that just this morning I managed to get all my music into my new phone. Man the learning curve on that thing is steep!
I’m going to celebrate each time the dishwasher gets emptied. I’m going to feel satisfaction every time laundry is completed. I’m going to congratulate myself each time I lace up my sneakers and go for a walk. I’m going to rejoice in the love of my family. I’m going to focus on living in the moment while still keeping an eye to the future. It’s coming up quickly. We’re already halfway through my son’s junior year of high school, and once he finishes there will be huge changes for all of us. This is both exciting and terrifying, but I know we’ll get through it.
In the meantime I will keep writing, I will keep reading, I will keep teaching, I will keep living and loving and learning and trying to see the world through a positive lens. I will keep moving ahead, one step at a time. For my first step, I will clean up the kitchen. It may not be much, but it’s a start.
Today’s throwback goes back centuries. It is Rosh Hashanah, commonly called the Jewish New Year. It is a holy day, and one that calls for reflection. I’m in favor of that practice, as well as the practice of eating crisp fall apples dipped in sweet delicious honey. Enjoy one of my favorite holiday videos ever, and may you have a blessed year with your loved ones.
BulgingButtons 