Day Twenty-Nine: Mistletoe & Movies, oh My!

"What happens under the mistletoe, stays under the mistletoe."

I've discovered the secret for combating the Monday Blah's...don't waste a second of your weekend! Saturday we drove to King, NC and got our Christmas tree from Bunny's Farms. Now the house smells like a pine forest. Mmmmmm! We spent most of the day hip-deep in Christmas decorations (Why doesn't the Season come with helpful elves? Elf on the shelf just lazily mocks us!). The mistletoe is hung (my favorite) and our various manger figures are everywhere, mixed in with snow-people, Santas, and reindeer. All that remains is to hang our Moravian Star (my second favorite piece of Christmas decor). As a kid, it never crossed my mind just how much work this whole decorating thing is, but the results are worth it.

Sunday (the first in the Advent Season) we went to the church I grew up in and it always feels like coming home. The warm, familiar, loving faces of people I've known most of my life are always there to greet us and make us feel welcome. We sat in the spot that my Uncle Hugh and Aunt Eva used to occupy, and I swear I could feel their presence smiling down on us. I half expected Aunt Eva to open her purse and hand me a Certs mint, which I'm pretty sure she kept in there just for me (...she also used to let me play with her rings during the service, a memory I thought of as I twisted my own rings on my fingers). After church, my husband took me on a lunch/movie date and I've gotta confess, dating now is much more fun than when I was "young and stupid", even though my husband totally hogged the popcorn. It's more fun because I don't feel awkward or nervous, conversation comes easily, I'm not concerned about the impression I may or may not be making, and I'm not wondering every second "What is he thinking?"

So, with the final weekend of November in the books and Monday preening in all of her "start of the week" glory, I'm almost thirty days into my "100 Days of Happy".  I can really feel the shift in consciousness that it is having on my life. Sad, angry, hurtful, and unpleasant things still occur, but they get far less attention from me, as I continue to focus on the abundance of positives to be found everywhere, like an exquisite tree lit with magical lights, or a lingering kiss in a dark movie theater (no mistletoe needed). While my weekend was stellar, the best part is discovering that I'm giving myself an "attitude adjustment". Banishing my long-time "hate affair" with Mondays doesn't suck, either!

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