The Very Last Minute

     
    Haven’t the posts on this blog been great? I’ve loved reading about Christmases and traditions and things that are just fun. It is a privilege being part of this group of authors.
          But here I am at almost the Very Last Minute before my scheduled day, and I don’t have a post! I’ve been busy—who hasn’t? I’ve had to work to get holiday cheerful this year—well, it’s certainly not the first time for that. The writing right now is a little iffy, but I will suck it up and get better. So, there, I don’t really know what my problem is, but I hope you’re not sharing it.
          That being said, I remember a few day-before-Christmas shopping trips when my husband and I were young. We’d already done the best we could for the kids and for others on the shopping list, including each other. The turkey was thawing and the tree had been up long enough it looked a little bedraggled. Yet he and I would go out at the Very Last Minute and take advantage of some sales, drop a couple more dollars in the red buckets, and have lunch all by ourselves with no one spilling an entire glass of milk across the table. It was a gift in itself.
          Then there was the year we didn’t plan to have company on Christmas Day, but the afternoon found the house full-to-overflowing with food and people and no one cared at all that I hadn’t dusted all week or that the Christmas tree was not only bedraggled but listing to one side as well.
          There was the Christmas Eve of the Holly Hobby dress, when I finished sewing at two o’clock in the morning, Duane wrapped the dress, and we fell into bed to sleep for three hours before the kids careened down the hall to tell us Santa had been there.
          So I will let that be a lesson to me, and maybe to some others who want everything to be just so for the holidays. Perfection, at least in holiday celebrations, is overrated. Sometimes the Very Last Minute is the Very Best Minute.

          I hope all your holiday minutes are good ones!


If you're doing any Very Last Minute shopping, don't forget Harlequin Heartwarming books!

Comments

  1. Fun post, Liz! I like it when those unexpected moments happen over the holidays (or any time, really) they are the very best! RadioMan, bebe and I had one of those moments yesterday - headed out for lunch and wound up with a whole day filled with silliness and fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, good! I love days like that--especially when you have someone the age of bebe to share it with.

      Delete
  2. Couldn't have said it better, Liz! Enjoy the holidays and the writing will surprise you when you least expect it. (Well, guess that's what surprise is all about!) Happy Christmas and a Wonderful New Year in 2015! Judith

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for coming by, Judith. Have blessed holidays!

      Delete
  3. Sometimes the best times are the ones we haven't planned, aren't they? The writing will straighten itself out and you'll be back on track soon. There are too many stories left for you to tell. Have a lovely holiday and get back in the saddle in the New Year. {{Hugs}} and bises galore!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love unexpected! And adventures--you know, like when you get lost. I think it's so important to remember the good times at Christmas, especially as we get older and so many of our loved ones aren't there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I love getting lost! Especially since I have a really good GPS that will get me out of trouble in a hurry. :-) You're right about the things to remember. Thanks, Patricia.

      Delete
  5. Liz, I love this post. In my younger days I stressed about every little detail around the Holidays. Now, I'm more like your last minute Christmas all the time LOL. I always ask myself--what is the worst that can happen if I don't get that extra batch of cookies baked or the mantel decorated just right or whatever is on my "list" that I made days or weeks ago when I had much more energy? If the answer is nothing...then I let it go(: It makes my Holiday so much more enjoyable!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just hung up from talking with my aunt, explaining why I didn't get Christmas cards out this year. I just wanted to drop by and wish you a Merry Christmas, Liz.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, D'Ann, I feel your pain. This is the first time in more than a decade that I didn't get the Christmas letter written (yes, I'm that relative) and cards out. I hate that life got so busy I didn't get to enjoy the little things. I'm thinking about an After Christmas letter.

      Delete
    2. Merry Christmas, D. I didn't get mine finished, though I made a good start. Have a blessed year.

      Oh, Pam, an After Christmas letter! What a great idea!

      Delete
  7. Liz,
    LOL, I bought my dad a Holly Hobby shirt for Christmas one year. It was mostly brown and orange. It was a dress shirt. I was so hurt when he didn't wear it to church on Sunday. Now, of course, I realize that my WW2 manly man dad couldn't, just couldn't, wear an orange and brown Holly Hobby shirt. LOL He wore some of the other crazy things I bought him, just not the Holly Hobby shirt. That's what I get for shopping at the half price store in Omaha Nebraska!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, that is so funny! I'll bet he cherished it, even if he wouldn't wear it. :-)

      Delete

    2. Nope, that was the one gift he didn't cherish LOL. It went to the goodwill. But, this was the wonderful man who let me keep every animal I ever brought home, who would put my tight pants on first, so I could get them on, and who would come out in the middle of the night to fetch me every I strayed, and believe me I did.
      He can turn up his nose at a Holly Hobby shirt.
      I'll do the same thing if my son buys me a Spongebob shirt.

      Delete
    3. I just read Two.by Two. It's wonderful!

      Delete
  8. Liz! How profound! Sometimes the last minute is the best minute. I'm going to run with that. I have a snowman pin that lights up. It's on my plush purple jacket and changes color from red to yellow to blue to green then back again. I wear it everywhere. Sometimes people laugh, sometimes young people snicker, but it represents for me my light inside that often gets buried under tasks and other pressures. But it relaxes me to know it's there - it's battery-powered rather than Muriel-powered, but it's there. Blessings on you and Duane and the kids.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Muriel. On you and Ron and yours as well. I love the pin and what it represents!

      Delete
  9. Liz, my sister and bro-in-law have been here since Saturday. They hadn't shopped for any of their kids or grands and were heading out this afternoon to share holidays and all with their families. We went on a shopping frenzy for 2 days and then helped them wrap gifts. I haven't done so much wrapping in ages. But it was fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, it SOUNDS fun. I'm a terrible wrapper, but I love doing it. This year, for the first time, I didn't try to keep things rectangular or even symmetric, so the parcels under the tree look really strange, but no one knows what's what!

      Delete
  10. I think the unplanned events are the best. I love the drop-in's that bring joy and cheer. I used to be so organized that I was finished shopping and wrapping in October. That was before kids. I'd go out on Christmas Eve just to see the paranoia going on in the mall since I needed nothing. I have one more gift to buy and I'm going out tonight to see if I can find something. But I generally love the hustle and bustle of this season.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do, too, Shirley, but must admit my energy level isn't what it used to be. I never did finish early, but it's only the small, easy things that are left. I love the anticipation more than the actual event!

      Delete
  11. Great post, Liz. I really enjoyed it. Happy Holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you, Linda! Happy holidays to you, too!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Loved your post! Perfection is highly overrated, especially at Christmas! Merry Christmas, everyone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you're right, Kristine! Merry Christmas to you, too.

      Delete

Post a Comment