Sensory Overload - Journal You Christmas 2012

This time of year is unlike any other for me.  I mean no matter where you look sights of the season smack you in the face...christmas carols can be heard in almost any store or elevator...Starbucks starts using their special christmas cups and their beverages have that special holiday aroma...you can feel the chill in the air, and the wind starts to have a little bite to it...it is even O.K. to indulge every so often in the sweet treats people inevitably bring in to the workplace.  This time of year as each of my senses cry uncle I find myself begging for more.   More sights, smells, sounds, tastes and touches. 

I will take a detour in the twilight hours to see what types of decorations my neighbors have out.  I will tell the Bug to put on her pajamas, grab a cup of cocoa and meet me in the car.  We will drive up and down all the streets in our neighborhood looking for the most festive...the tackiest...the most colorful...the house with the most inflatable decorations (7 is the max so far), and just let the pure delight of each twinkling light wash over us.

Christmas is the time to give all the people you love an extra squeeze.  Go ahead and buy that toy that makes LOTS of noise...and give it to your favorite niece or nephew...when else is it acceptable to drive family member bonkers.  Remember how it feels to get real hugs...to be completely enveloped in a loved ones arms...those kind of hugs can warm you from the inside out.  When you wrap up in your favorite coat and scarf...but then remember that the wool of the scarf is almost too scratchy to bear...wear it anyway because it reminds you of the christmas you received it as a gift from a treasured friend.  

Make the cookie that take hours to chill.  Roll out the dough...preheat the oven...revel in the fact that for the rest of the day the house will smell like the finest bakery in town.  Mix batch upon batch of colorful icing to decorate each cookie for Santa.  Use some of the icing to build a gingerbread house.  Take the time to hold each piece in place even if it means the house ends up a tad lopsided.  Take a trip to Bath and Body Works and spend the money on the candle that just screams holiday cheer.  Actually burn the candle...instead of saving it for a special occasion.  Make some random regular day a special occasion.  Fill the house with all different kinds of smells.  Cinnamon will always remind me of the holidays, because my mom would buy the cinnamon scented pinecones and put them all over the house.  The Macintosh scented candles are another scent memory I will carry with me forever.  The mixture of sweet apples and the cinnamon of the pinecones would blend together in my mind to create the perfect scent of the season.

Thats all for now friends!
to the moon and back,
Sarah