As for me? I'll wash the cups.

Good Morning, Christmas Eve! 

Unfathomable to me that we bid adieu to Advent today, and hello to the season of Christmas -- twelve days of it!  Someday, maybe when I'm 80, I will have a party every day of the Christmas season.  For the moment, it is rather top-loaded.  And though I - come hell or high water - leave my tree up faithfully through Epiphany, by the time the drummers start drumming the Christmas holiday is long gone, and I am engulfed in the work that wasn't done and the inevitable go-go-go of the new year. 

But for today! 

May I say and be thanks.

May I breathe through the final tasks on the list.

May I get a little work done.

May I be with friends and family fully -- not in exhaustion or in fellow boot-camper fatigue.  May I greet them at my best, because they are what is best.

May I think a little bit of you, whoever you are and whenever you are reading this.  May I remember to send you some white light and a bit of love, and remind you that you are a soul who indeed is worthy. 

And may I remember the small things. 

When we throw or host a dinner party, I like to set the table and pull out the nice stuff when I can, for otherwise it will never be used.  I confess that the hours leading up to guests in the home are generally not my best hours, but I think we always end up pulling off a nice evening for ourselves and our friends and family. 

Generally at the end of the evening, the family skitters off in happy exhaustion to collapse before a book or movie.  I like to tidy up as best I can -- sometimes that night, sometimes the next morning.

I save the best for last.  The cups!  Most I do by hand.  I used to think of this as a complete hassle - but now, I've changed it up.  I like to think of each of the people we were with for that meal as I wash the cups.  It's my little meditation on them, and my small form of gratitude.  I hope there is some karmic grace that balances out the crazy woman I was before they all arrived.  And, I like to send some goodness back once in a while.

A small thing - gratitude and grace - but what an impact. 

Thanks for journeying along for the small ride!  Lots of Advent Love to you and yours!