Our baby boy just turned 10 yesterday.  Time flies....:::::long sigh::::  Saturday will hold errands and a chiropractic appointment, helping our 19 yo dd with her job search and a trip to the planetarium with our birthday boy followed by pizza and birthday cake and maybe a friend or two.  Then a call to my mil to wish her a happy birthday.  Sunday is church and decorating.  Lights and the manger outside, lights in the living room window and pine and tinsel throughout the house.  

This year has been non-stop and this month will be no exception.  But the Christmas packages are out, the snail mail cards are in process of being written, the mailing list is done and the gift shopping is done, except for gift cards.  Still have to find an email card to send friends who are online and plan and send invites for our holiday open house. 

With DH having to work overtime for weeks on end, not to mention his already crazy hours, and our oldest dd finishing her last class for her master's (except for a student teaching experience next summer), the constant demands and needs DH and I have had to tend to, and so much other stuff going on, getting in the Christmas spirit has been tough for all of us.  It's been a year of stress - DH's uncle's been ill and in a nursing home for months, job troubles, health and money issues, etc., but it reminds me to keep focus on the reason for it all, the incredible gift of the birth of our promised Messiah.  Despite all the stress, all the worries, all the disappointments, all of ups and downs of this year, we are so incredibly blessed...