A few days ago I arrived back to my apartment after what proved to be a tough Christmas at my home in New Jersey (it will always be home, even if I don't reside there on a permanent basis anymore...it's just that kind of place for me).
This will be a longish post. I write this to be read of course, but I also write as a way to document my life - a way for me to look back at the journey.
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I've been told by some that because this is a blog related to my business that I should keep it's contents fun and light. While quite a bit of my life is light and fun, just like anyone else, I have times that aren't always wonderful.
One of my goals for my business (and my life) is to connect with people on a deeper level. I would like to be fully present in both my career and life, and hopefully have them intersect as much as possible. By sharing thoughts and stories from my life, I hope to connect with some of you. With all of this in mind, I'd like to share a few photos and stories from my time at home on the lake.
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Some of you may have read in an early post, and some of you just know, that my mom died almost 4 years ago. My mom was, and still is, the biggest influence in my life. I think of her everyday, mostly in passing - a quick thought that brings a smile to my face.
Over the last four years I've noticed some people who try to hide from the pain of a great loss in their life. I've opted to face the pain, and because of that I've gained great joy. While I miss my mom terribly, I do feel she has given me an enormous gift. I truly cherish life, and I'm able to see the things that are important and move past those that are not so important.
I could speak about this for paragraphs and paragraphs. I'll cut myself off here, but perhaps I'll write about this part of my life more in the coming year.
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Like many other families, Christmas was a big deal in my home. Getting our tree was an event, as well as the decorating. We'd have a fire going, Christmas music playing and we'd each have our glass of egg nog. My dad and I would walk around and around in circles, stringing the tree with lights. My mom would unwrap the ornaments, each packed away carefully the year before, and hand them out to us. We'd get excited to see certain ornaments and tell the story of how we acquired them. Graham and I would take turns every other year putting the star or the angel on top (I think I ended up doing it most of the time). Traditions are difficult to change.
Without my mom around, we've done a pretty decent job the last three years. The first Christmas without her went very well, considering. This year though, I just didn't have the energy to do what we're used to doing - none of us did really. Perhaps this was the year for change. Traditions can evolve. They would have evolved naturally anyway with Graham and me getting older, but it happened a bit too abruptly.
So, with all of that, Christmas came and went, with a lot of emotions in between, but I made it through. I'm excited about the year to come very much.
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I did take a few photos over the week...
Peter and I made the trip to NJ the Friday before Christmas. I had one more wedding to photograph (post to come soon), which happened to be in NJ, so we decided to stay the week instead of driving back and forth.
The morning after the wedding I woke to find my dad's coffee pot cracked. I was so looking forward to drinking a cup, while staring out at the lake and relaxing. I vaguely remembered my mom keeping an old coffee maker for when we had parties. I went to the basement to search, but couldn't find one. What I found instead was an old percolator!
My mom had a booth in an antique store for a while. We still have items around the house that she didn't sell - the percolator being one of them. The price tag was still on it. My favorite part of camping is the percolator coffee. We didn't go camping this year, so I was very excited to have a bit of what I consider "outdoor" coffee, indoors. It tasted great by the way. We did order a replacement pot for my dad, even though I think this coffee tasted better.
Instead of cutting down our tree this year, Peter and I opted for a more low-key experience. We went to a lot and chose a small tree. The idea of getting a bigger tree seemed too overwhelming and too much work. The tree we chose was cute and perfect and easy to decorate. And - with our purchase we were given a free bag of apples! - with which I made a tasty apple pie on Christmas.
I've saved the best story for last. Christmas day was proceeding fine, but slowly. Looking out the window, I noticed a few deer sitting on the lawn. We had a good amount of apples and I decided the deer needed some. You probably shouldn't feed the deer, but at this point they're very used to people and the one apple from me isn't going to have a great effect either way. Graham and I go outside and as I'm inching closer to the deer to place the apple near them, we hear the sound of a dog's collar jingling, which of course scares the deer away.
The dog comes running around the side of the house and comes right to us. Graham and I decide that the dog probably got loose from its owner. We listen for whistling or calling, but don't hear anything. Graham looks at the collar and says, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" The dog's name is Dasher. The dog's name is Dasher and it's Christmas day!! How great is that?!
Peter, Graham and I take the dog for a walk around the block, hoping the owner will be out looking for it. Just as we were really enjoying our time with the dog, the owner drives down the road. We were glad to see them reunited, but it would have been fun to have a dog for the night, especially one named Dasher.
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While the week was overwhelming in most respects, I did have a great time visiting with friends. The friends that we missed this time around - I hope to see you soon!
I hope you all had enjoyable holidays - whichever you may celebrate. If you also had a tough time this year, know that you're certainly not alone, and I'm positive there will be better years to come.
Here's to 2010!
