Eagle, this is the perfect year for you to make changes becasue you have a sick brother and people will have to understand.

I recall Christmas for the first seven years we were married. All we did was run around like nuts. The year our daughter arrived from Korea on December 21st, our son got pneumonia. We HAD to stay home. My MIL brought us Christmas dinner on plates from my SIL's house. It was wonderful. We've never left home on Christmas day again. It was the perfect year for us to make the much needed change.

Perhaps this is your year Eagle.

This post reminds me of expectations. This is something we discuss quite often at prayer group. We often talk about lowering our expectations of others, but during the Christmas season, we need to lower our expectations of our selves.

This is something I like about being at midlife. We've learned from past mistakes and have the guts to look out for ourselves.

I try not to get overwhelmed because I pace myself, but come to think of it, I still am the one doing most of the work. Hmmm.

I appreciate this post because I have a couple family members who cringe at the thought of the holidays. This year I will see what I can do to make their holidays more meaningful.