Yesterday I made a decision. Instead of attacking the 1.5 million holiday tasks I had yet to do.. I passed on it ALL, left the house in its ‘it looks like a tornado hit here’ state, and decided to go chase a Iceland gull that has been seen up at the Conowingo Dam over an hour drive away.

<——– I was *hoping* to see this beauty (it’s not in this plumage.. but a beauty nonetheless).

 

 

 

 

 

But instead, I saw about 150 of THESE—>

 

 

 

 

 

No luck on the gull.. Bummer.

But a nice find I suppose. That is, if I were black vulture. 😛

And today, after the mad dash to catch up on all the errands that I skipped yesterday, I was hoping to come home to this..

 

 

 

 

 

And instead, I have this….

 

 

 

 

Distracted by a sea of unanswered emails, gifts yet-to-be-wrapped, piles of school papers, and dishes in the sink,  I left the house this morning not one, not two, but THREE times WITHOUT my shopping list. And then wouldn’t you know it… halfway through my errands, I *LOST* the all important list somewhere between Trader Joes, Costco and Safeway. Ha! I just had to laugh. 🙂

In this season of super-high expectations and in a time when the news headlines leave quite a bit to be desired….. my hope is that we all can find peace in what we have, in the hand that we’ve been dealt, even if its not quite what we expected.

And as for me.. the family starts coming into town for the holiday tomorrow.. I’m not ready.. not even close.

So, I’m sitting here, counting my blessings, hoping for a Christmas miracle and wondering whether black vultures do dishes…??  😛

To all my dear friends, near and far, Merry Christmas!

xo, Nancy

PS. It’s supposed to be 79 degrees here in Maryland on Christmas. Wow. Talk about ‘not quite what we’re expecting’!