Gratitude

I let the house we're living in right now affect the way I feel way too much.  Its hard not to--the kids' bedrooms overlap with ours (with no doors between in some cases); we have very little furniture, but its hard to justify getting any more, since I don't know where we'd put it; the wall paper is ripped and dirty and full of holes (and some of it was very ugly to begin with), as is the carpet.  Its really hard to put anything away, since there aren't really any closets; the back yard is almost non-existent and a total mess (and that's after dozens of hours of work); it seems like something is breaking or leaking at least once a month, and everything looks worn down and junky the way things do when they are quite old and there's been no serious upkeep for a lot of years.

But the heater is going, so its nice and warm, and the kids are all playing happily (and quietly) on the floor while Christmas music plays and the stew in the crockpot fills the whole house with delicious smells.  Right now, it doesn't seem so bad.  Not bad at all, actually.

I'm not in any way organizationally, financially or physically ready for Christmas.  But I'm ready for Christmas season.