Better

Do y'all know how much I love Halloween? It's strange, because I hate - HATE - being scared, but I love Halloween. It's one holiday that I've always, always loved and get excited about every year. I have most of my inside decorations finished, and will probably be doing my outside decorations today.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving, though I don't know what we're doing this year. We usually host my mom and stepdad and whatever weary travelers feel like coming over, but this year is up in the air.

Oh, and FRYDAY!! Hello, aren't y'all looking forward to Fryday?

I absolutely, positively cannot wait until Christmas. I can't wait to give out presents to everyone, to make some heart-healthy pumpkin granola for everyone, to hear the music, to watch Love, Actually, to smell the Christmas candles, to decorate my house and stay up late and drink tea and stare at the lights on my tree, to read the story of Jesus' birth to Ace... I just cannot wait for any of it. I am excited this year. (Part of that excitement is the fact that Drew and I have been actually setting money aside every month for Christmas and won't be having to live paycheck-to-paycheck to be able to afford everything.)

Last year was different. I hated every holiday after my miscarriage. I gritted my teeth and barely sailed through. I bawled my eyes out with stress, thinking about everything I had to get accomplished. The extent of my Halloween decoration was getting my witches' cauldron out of the attic to put all the candy in (and then promptly ate the majority of the candy). Thanksgiving was totally uncomfortable. My Christmas decorations were up on December 23rd, and only about a third of them, and only because my big sister was in town to help. I sought every means necessary to avoid buying or making presents for people. I cried. A lot.

This year is so much better, and I am so happy. I'll get stressed, I'm sure, but that's standard fare for fall and winter holidays.

That's good stuff, people!