Most of my December was spent making our first west coast Christmas perfect. I sent out close to a 100 holiday cards with cheery notes which I wrote while listening to nothing but Christmas music. Santa’s were on display all over our new home, lights were strung and lit. We fully engaged ourselves in all the festivities, shopping and cooking and baking, while wearing silly hats. As you might have guessed from this idyllic opening the holiday could not live up to my hype. But it did not stop my push to make our New Year’s eve filled with all the garnishes I could throw at it. Yes, lesson not learned. Thankfully sense and sensibility did surface, eventually, to the realization that we were indeed somewhere new, and quite possibly, I could slow down, take a breath and notice all the possibilities in this here.

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