MOVIE NIGHTS :) Something about a good movie or book takes you away from this life into another. Kinda gives our bodys and brains a rest. Grab a pizza some popcorn maybe a bit of chocolate. Snuggle up and enjoy a movie or good book.
Another thing is hot baths. Love love them. I can safely doze and not drown lol Just a few tips from me that I do to wind down.
There are also those times that my friends on here get on me to the point they are yelling at me to just Stop then I do LOL
Good luck guys stress is rough but you can take the time to rest if you need to :)

You could always use my method and hide out in the hospital the entire holiday!! I don't have to set up my own treatments, or cook, have room service, I Skype and then take naps:) I live in pajama pants and toe socks. This is the life!! Just kidding:)

I am huge on boundaries. Know your limits and set them. That means don't push yourself or allow others to expect too much form you. I am very mindful of my health when I have a lot of commitments. That means making sure I don't miss treatments or meds, and have optimal rest. I don't change out of my pajamas at Christmas. I sit with family and friends in front of the fireplace with hot chocolate, music or movies, and then relax for dinner and a football game. Things are so much more enjoyable when they are kept simple and the focus is on enjoying your loved ones. Hope everyone has a blessed, healthy, and merry Christmas:)

Great topic elf!

I just spent yesterday and today with family on the tale end (I hope) of being sick. I made sure I got to bed early and slept in this morning to make sure I had enough rest to have the day of sharing and telling stories.

I love to cook and I know when to order take out. Even on holidays.

My husband sprayed both the house and car down with Lysol to make sure to take care of lingering germs and I started the visit with Zicam, a tip I am learning from Marilyn.

And tonight as we relax here with things getting quiet, we are watching a prerecorded Christmas movie and I am all snugly with my heating pad. Just because I want to be warm and toasty.

Like Zen we wipe the house down with a solution of 10-1 bleach/water.
Works great & is cheap.

I go to bed early because I get up early. Take breaks between doing things..Wrap a couple gifts, sit for an hour or two, wrap a few more & sit...(No wonder there are so many left to wrap)

Have others go grocery shopping. Then everyone helps cook on Christmas morning.. A Family that works together stays together..

Glider Hope everyone is treating you GREAT & that they have fantastic ROOM SERVICE..LOL..

How about this! Just totally skip it...just kidding. But, a couple of years ago, I told the family that I was not partaking in Xmas. Everyone felt sorry for me..friends of mine. But, I stayed in pajamas all day, watched movies, cooked myself a roast, didn't put makeup on and rented movies. IT was the best gift I could give myself. REST.

Nobody got it, but me. My mom understood. I work hard this time of year with my jewelry business, so I feel the need to just sit back and chill out in spite of what is expected.

I also don't have kids.

This year I am cooking or baking pies and I am sure I will be beat after the one day is over. Christmas should be several days, not just one.

I made the decision to stay home by myself this Christmas eve. I just don't have the energy to go to my sisters.

So I am taking care of me this year. I plan to watch movies and maybe order a gluten free pizza.

I am looking forward to my alone time and am not going to feel guilty about it.

Happy Holidays Everyone.

Awesome Danish! Enjoy your me time. - Zen

I am doing my best to go with the flow. The stress here is huge. I have the elders who are VERY critical and openly so.
My husband and I are trying to use humor.
My teens got into it earlier, but are doing better now.
We gave the dogs a huge bone each and put them outside when my friend came (with her dog!) this after being asked over and over not too. So I just did my best and openly spoke of it adding stress but that it was not ok to have the animal out in the car the whole time. Openly said that my husband was annoyed by her doing so.
Thank God for honesty. She put it in a kennel in the garage for a while. The wining was setting me on edge and I told her so. So she took it for a walk.
Ran into an acquaintance at Costco (yes today) who spoke of my estranged sister. So I said if she ever sees her to tell her I spoke lovingly of her we are just not raised to be friends.
By this time my back was hurting and I headed to the exit.
So much stress, I am resting now.
So I pray
breath
and try to keep adding happiness to the world around me.
We opened one gift each, mine was a new coffee pot from my daughter so I rest here with a huge mug of coffee.

I have music on pandora in the back ground

Letting go of expectations
accepting the day and the next as they come. Doing all I can to do this for myself and my little family
I imagine just walking away tomorrow if and or when the elders speak rudely. WE will all become more of who we are as we age.
I really want to like who I am. I win if I do not become someone who I can not stand.
Seeing my inside unchanged.
Standing I will remain what ever my bones my become.

When I was little, I loved Christmas. I don't anymore. I worshiped it even when I was in my 30's. After my sister died, it changed. I just don't feel the same and other people don't understand me for it.

Tonight, I went to my nieces. I was hoping for a good time. It was FREEZING there. I thought, they must be low on funds, because it's like 60 degrees in here. Everyone was complaining. It's always cold there and it's just not MY Christmas. Not my kind of Christmas. It made me sad that they can't afford to turn their heat up. I know that is what is going on. So with wooden floors and it being freezing...it was time to go.

As I have become older, I know that Christmas is for me; decorations, lights, baking, cooking, but low maintenance and not crazy. It's not rushing, family for hours on end, etc...tons of commotion, ugly Christmas parties. Really? Do I want to buy a sweater just so I can make it ugly? I guess it's fun, but I am too tired for arts and crafts...Lol. A lot of expectations, a lot of doing what the Jones' do...no thanks.

Today, my mom was feeling awful. Horrible and I got rammy with her because she will not go to the doc. How many times am I supposed to listen to how sick she is and she doesn't want to do anything about it? I repeat myself, she asks me the same questions, I am exhausted from her. I hope I can say that and have it be okay and not be judged. Nope, I don't live with her. I just find her condition and her stubborness too much to handle. I can't take it. She told me she has been to so many doc's in the last month and I thought...what????? Um, she has not been to one. She is not with it. It's sad. Too sad on Christmas. And my younger family members just don't get that. They are too into their lives to see that Nana is slipping and quick.

I dream of a day where I can have Christmas the way I want it. Without my mom, without my family, at home with quiet and movies or maybe go to Colorado for some good old skiing. That would be a dream.

I love before Christmas, I love after Christmas and that's it. The day of, or NYE or New Year's....let it be over.

Wow
what a day
it was wonderful with the morning with just my teens and my husband.
my sweet daughter gave me a coffee pot a twelve cupper. we have had the same four cup one for thirty years. just replaced it with another four cup last year. this one is fancy. timer and all.. Her girl friend gave her mom one so I got one too
my sweet son made amends by getting me a pair of little embroidery scissors.
we had visitors dropping of gifts as they were exiting the elders and my bachelor brother in law arrive.
my 90+ yr old father in law insisted on coming in with hands full and fell entering the door and hit the tile entry down he went hard.
I felt panic, with the husband of the friend, and my husband they were able to get him up eventually. He refused to go to urgent care.
I tended to his bleeding wound. stepped into my room and took a deep breadth Mercy it startled me.
the folks who were there called my husband yesterday. The parents of the boy my son is good friends with. They just literally buried her mother and moved the grandpa into their house. They got a call yesterday the boys dad, his sister (the aunt ) and children were in a fatal car accident in a near by state. The woman died and one child has two fractured collar bones and a leg. They asked if we could let the kids be here over the next few days as to have a break from the grandpa as they had to travel to go bury the woman,
Mercy the brother in law, the woman who died...he was the emt who found her at the wreck. he was the first responder to find his wife dead and his own children in bad condition. I do not think the children died.
so i will have four to five teens during the next week and check in on the elder.

My husbands parents are now saying his dad wants to go to the doc tomorrow. Refused urgent care because it was my suggestion. I did well with the insults and my teens were so good to me. My daughter took over the waitress of the meal. I was so tired. made it through.

I watched tv with my hubby and laid my head on his lap. that was nice. He gave me a love letter for Christmas. My favorite gift

I was kind, patient and forgiving. I like who I am. I fight off bitterness.
My ptsd is so flared however I can not sleep. arg.

We use to travel from TX to NC to spend Christmas with family but I always hated it. IT wasn't so bad when it was just me and my husband but once it was 2 children it was hard. I decided in 2006 when my children were 2 and 4 we would no longer travel for Christmas but that year my mother-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer and the family was called in days before Christmas. Her funeral was Christmas Eve. The next year we felt we should go back to be with my father - in-law. in 2008 my mother was very sick so we went home again for her last Christmas. I finally put my foot down and said we were NOT going to come to NC for Christmas barring another funeral, and so my niece decided to get married the week of Christmas. We did not attend the wedding and she has not forgiven us yet. Too bad for her but when she announced her engagement I told her if she had it the week of Christmas I would not attend. If it was 2 weeks before or 1 week after, we would attend but not the week of Christmas. It was my husbands niece so it put him in a bad spot but my father-in-law, who was paralyzed on one side from a stroke, had moved in with us and I was not yet diagnosed so I was exhausted. Since then we have decided to stay in the house on Christmas day in PJ's all day. This year we are in India and very few people celebrate Christmas so we decided have the cook make cookies and we delivered cookies to friends. We went to four houses and spent time chatting with people we genuinely enjoy being around. It was very relaxing and the most fun I have had on Christmas in years. It was no stress at all.

That's great Marilyn. Sounds so nice. IT sounds like India has really worked out for you.

It's not fair to get married around Christmas. I mean, do it, but don't think others will be there. There is too much going on. People are going away, etc.

The niece sounds very selfish.

Anyway, happy NEW YEAR!!

India has its own challenges but help is cheap so it's easier to get rest and pamper yourself.