Join the Tuesday Slice of Life!
As many of you know, I write a Slice of Life every Tuesday. Usually I write it on Sunday because my weeks are full of lesson plans, school, meetings, errands… But this weekend I finished up the Christmas preparations. Yesterday, I ran errands. So this morning I am sitting in my warm kitchen with my dog Charlie on my lap, knowing that soon we will all be in here, my husband, my daughters, and me, cooking up a storm. I will attempt to make my mother’s dressing for tomorrow’s dinner. Jeff will be making a gumbo for tonight’s Christmas Eve celebration, and Martha will make lemon squares. But at this moment, I am having a quiet cup of coffee and listening to the calm.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but it can also be stressful. Even when I try to keep it low stress, stress creeps its ugly head in at some point or another. Yesterday, it came to me while I drove through CVS. I drove into the wrong lane, the drop off lane. I yelled at the poor clerk, “Was there a sign to tell me I couldn’t pick up here!”
Later I returned. No, I didn’t circle around and try again. I left. But the errand had to be done, so I tried again when I was calmer. The sign could not have been bigger on the overhang. On the left, Pick Up, and on the right, Drop Off Only. What an idiot! I smiled at the clerk and wished her a Merry Christmas. And I learned a lesson.
I hope your day today is free of stress, mixed with calm and chaos, and full of love.
Christmas Haiga by Margaret Simon. Photo by Michelle Zimmerman
Reflections on the Teche 