May I be perfectly honest with you? This is the point in the Christmas season when I start to get a little cranky, and then because I realize I'm not sweet and Jesus-focused like I ought to be it makes me even more cranky! I haven't finished all my shopping and some of the gifts are getting hard to find. I haven't finished writing all my Christmas cards and got halfway through a box to discover I'd bought a misprinted batch. What should have said "Noel" instead said "Nnnoooeeelll" on more than a few cards, which I suppose would be fine if I had any stuttering friends in need of Christmas cheer but I don't.
Yesterday, in a stolen moment from work I ran by the post office to mail the cards that made the cut. The two helpful and hardworking gents who normally wait on me were busy, so I got a new guy. When I told him I needed some cards metered, he looked me straight in the eye and loudly said, "Well I was TRYING to go to lunch in about two minutes!" I stared back. I bit my lip. I looked around and there was only one other customer in the place. There would have been few witnesses if I'd yelled "Look here, Buster, I'm on deadline, I've got cards to re-purchase and send, I've got gifts to buy and cookies to bake, and I really don't give a fa la la about your lunch hour!" I somehow managed to keep my mouth shut as Mr. Congeniality loudly, laboriously metered my mail. His good spirits then restored, he finished up in time to send me off with a (lame) joke about the federal government, which at last count was still (sadly) his employer. I said all that to say this: I needed a cup of tea!
When I got home from this busy day of work and errands, and finishing up the January/February issue of our magazine, I pulled out one of the two Christmas-themed teacups I've collected this year. This one is bone china from England marked "Duchess" and "Winter," which of course means there are three more teacups I need to look for now. Into the cup I poured a wonderful new Holiday Blend the folks at Mighty Leaf Tea were kind enough to share.
The amazing scent alone told me I would enjoy this tea, which is a "winter chai flecked with Indian black tea, clove, cinnamon, and star anise ... apple, ginger and goji berries." Ahhhh! Delicious! I think I'm ready to finish up those Christmas cards now! (And mercifully, I have the day off today. Good thing, huh!)
This year seems a little overwhelming to me too. I still haven't put up my tea tree or finished decorating - haven't starting Christmas baking, etc. I don't know if I'm any more cranky than usual, but I have picked up a nasty cold and feel terrible. Well, enough whining.
ReplyDeleteYour teacup is very pretty and that Holiday blend chai sounds wonderful. I'd enjoy a cup right now with lots of milk and honey. Glad your latest issue of the mag is finished. Somehow, I can't picture you cranky - I'm sure it'll soon pass. :-)
glad you were able to enjoy a cup of tea during all this Christmas madness. And, I agree, madness is not the atmosphere to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but I am finding myself far more frustrated than usual this year.
ReplyDeleteWhew, you have had a rough week! I felt I needed a cup of (something else) after just reading about it all! HA! You were certainly more patient than I would have been with that clerk- (I have a very quick & volatile temper and would not have hestitated to remind him just WHO pays his salary and for his lunch break!) Well, I have lifted you both in prayer. So let's hope all goes wonderfully for you the rest of this most ggglllooorrriiiooouuusss season.
ReplyDeleteLove Ya Girl!
I may as well wrote this post. I am starting with a little with the cranks myself. Didn't even WRITE my cards yet. Yikes! So much to do, and yet I am here instead. Go figure......Anyway, we have to keep calm. The cup of tea was invented for this purpose, in my opinion, to just sToP and pAuSe and as the quote says 'clear the muddle from your head' May we have smiles upon our face and the hours of our days multiple for us all!! (Really pretty cup by the way)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your well-deserved quiet Christmas teas.
ReplyDeleteTea is definitely nice for smoothing the ruffled edges of the harried season. Take care!
ReplyDeleteHey Angela, Terry got that guy the other day. Man was he goin on and on. Funny, Terry got him again today and he was a bit more agreeable, kinda!!!!! Ah, the cheer that needs to be spread!! Lord bless you as you seek to look more and more to our Lord Jesus. tammyp
ReplyDeleteOh Honey, you do have my sympathy. I can't find one of my dearest friends gifts so I can mail it. I haven't gotten enough cleaning done for company ao I guess they will just have to think I am a pig. Jesus loves you even if you are cranky and I am sure he would rather you sit and have a cuppa than go crazy
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that Marlena wrote that Jesus loves us even if we are cranky...that made me smile, because I've been so darn cranky this week that Jesus must be absolutely head-over-heels about me! LOL! I'm behind on everything--DH and I are just now finishing decorating the tree, and I just got the cards out last night. The house looks like a hurricane came by, and where am I? Well, I'm right here, with my cup of tea, enjoying your blog and the comments of all the women who are cranky like me! Merry Christmas to all!
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