'Tis the season

to be stressed out about everything. One of our furnaces died yesterday. We have a furnace in the new addition that works great. The old, ancient furnace in the old part of the house has some issues every once in a while. Yesterday was it's day to conk out on us. Remember earlier when I mentioned that Mother Nature has us in her tight grip? Yup, it's still really really cold outside although the wind has gone down so windchill temps aren't such an issue yesterday and today. The house cooled down pretty quickly but as luck would have it, all of our plumbing is in the new part of the house so there wasn't any concern about the pipes freezing, thank goodness! Two of our bedrooms are in the new addition also and the two that sleep in the old part of the house found a warm place to rest their weary heads pretty easily. My husband called one furnace guy who never returned his call and when I got home from work at almost 5:30, I called furnace guy number two who said he's be here today to fix it. Unfortunately this is the time of year when furnaces like to go out and he's pretty busy. He just left and after an hour to replace a part, I have wonderful warmth flowing all around me again!! Oh the beauty of a functioning furnace!! Also, this morning when I went to wake Daniel for school, I discovered that he had thrown up all over the place last night. He's usually really good about making it to the bathroom but lift-off must have snuck up on him. Unfortunately, because of the furnace situation, he was also sleeping with sleeping bags. Yup, they are at the dry cleaners so they can actually get clean and two of the pillows are a total loss. I can buy new ones for $6.99. No sweat. Last week the dryer decided to quit heating and the kitchen sink wouldn't drain. Like I said... 'tis the season!! We are celebrating Christmas at my brother's house on Sunday and the tree isn't decorated and presents aren't wrapped yet. I have no goodies baked or made. I should be really stressed out. But there have been some really sad deaths in our community this month and my sweet cousin (who's younger than me) was diagnosed with breast cancer just before Thanksgiving and she's hoping to have some strength to celebrate Christmas after her chemo round tomorrow. So I'm really appreciating my furnace that gives off heat tonight. The tree will get decorated, the presents will get wrapped, the goodies baked (maybe) or perhaps Schmidt's Bakery will help me out with that. I'm going to appreciate my family, my friends, my furnace, my next paycheck, my dirty dishes (apparently we have food to eat!) and not get stressed out. I hope you can pause in your busy-ness this season and be thankful for the loved ones who are here on earth to celebrate Christmas with you, thankful for the food you have to eat, and even thankful for your furnace that warms your home. I wish you all a very happy and healthy Christmas! Shirley