Hurtling Through Advent at Warp Speed

No matter how much I try to slow it down it just keeps moving forward. December 10, 11, 12, and the 13th. How can it be? Less than two weeks left of what may truly be my favorite season of the year and once again it is going way too fast. I am trying to savor the bits I can capture. I am decorating the house. It started earlier than planned with that fir tree, but now that it's in motion, I might as well go with it and enjoy it. There are some bits that are mine, things I admit that I have great attachment to and that I get quite fussy about and want no one else to touch or arrange. My mom's ceramic tree is one. It's the last tree she had, purchased when she moved into senior housing, when she thought a bigger tree, even an artificial one would be too much hassle. Later it came to be mine, and every Christmas since, even when there have been no other decorations, the "mom-tree" has found its way out to light up my home at the time. It is traditionally accompanied by the six ceramic angels that came from my childhood and a plastic lighted church like the one I grew up with, the original of that one having been lost somewhere in time.

I also put up the angel tree tonight. This is a new tradition. The year I moved here to the prairie, when I was living alone, being the new kid at the clinic, I was on call for Christmas, so I had to stay in town. Making the best of it, I bought a tiny tree at Goodwill and decorated my little apartment. I decided to get all angel ornaments, so I scouted around at the stores and craft fairs and found a whole assortment. And now I have a sweet little angel tree. It hasn't made it out every year since, but we are having the "Dinner Bunch" our church's supper group here on the 22nd, so I thought this might be a good time to do the angel tree.

Lessons and Carols is Sunday night. I am the choir robe mistress. We are importing a LOT of singers so this becomes a rather daunting task. I've been doing time in the robe closet and humming descants, playing my CD in the car and on my computer at work hoping that by some magical osmosis these nine carols will sink into my brain by Sunday. It is a lot calmer than last year though, when the liturgist left town and left me in charge of the director for the week prior. Our director is very talented and wonderful and driven and demanding. It was exhausting and I told her she must never ever leave him in my care again as I already had a full-time job and caring for him comprised another one!

It's kind of funny. I listen to my co-workers talk about hours of shopping and how many presents to buy and wrap, and I'm more worried about how many choristers to robe and carols to learn, and whether or not I will actually sell M on the idea that it would be a great privilege for her to play the organ and preach the late service on Christmas while I celebrate, because after all I did get to preach it last year and I should not hog all the good ones. Sometimes I feel like I live in a parallel universe. But I like it here. Here with my little trees, hurtling through advent at warp speed, I feel pretty blessed.