Holiday Rooftop Revolving Lounge Decorated here 4 U from Now to New Years Day

This is a very uplifting thread! Love all the posts...

May I add some festive tunes?  It's from YouTube, I have this collection on Vinyl and play on a good system, enjoy and have a safe season! I don't post much, but do read a lot...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_o0JBk13TU&list=PLRlMwG_6L7WWgitggRhJW5pUnSaJysz4M&index=9

@jd1960 I love this music. I'm in an ice skating rink going round and round while the organ plays. It's at the base of our high rise revolving lounge.

Come, sit ... enjoy a hot beverage??❄️☃️ Wassail,hot chocolate,cider,mulled wine of your choice. Enjoy quiet contemplative company by the fireside.

https://youtu.be/siZ-oI95rlM

I made us a dessert charcuterie board to share while we relax

@journeywithme2 That latest music you posted is now going to play in my house while I figure out things. So meditative and kind to the soul. 

@jeanne-mayell  and all the joy of a crackling fire with none of the mess or heat loss up the chimney!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=geuo8ACc0ew

An annual event for Christmas in Sydney Carols by Candlelight.

Regards to all

Today is the day we move our elf on the shelf all day using a sleight of hand my wife and I have developed over the years.  The girls will be 11 this March so we know our time with the magic is pretty much up, but - we won't stop bringing our elf out and pretending he's magic even after we know they no longer believe.

Normally we go to church on Christmas Eve and while the girls are getting in the car, we move him one last time and put him next to 4 presents we're allowed to open Christmas Eve night - always pajamas, and always from Fergus T. Elf.  He also always leaves a letter.  I love writing it every year!

Here's a preview of the letter he's leaving us this year.  Merry Christmas to you all :-) 

To Emma and Leah, to Daddy and Mom,

When you wake up tomorrow I’ll be long gone

This year was a treasure, each year with you better

Which is why I always leave you this one final letter

This present is for you to open right now

And tomorrow there’ll be more for you, this I vow!

It sounds like next year you’ll spend Christmas at Disney

I’ve always wanted to see that place, please please please take me!

While next year you’re older with new things to achieve

I still come and visit you, if you still believe

The spirit of Christmas is filled with love magic

And if you were to lose that, I’d find it so tragic

Before I leave to head back to the pole

There’s something I want each one of you to know

In a world filled with chaos, I just want to say

There are things you can do to make magic each day

Be kind to each other, work hard at your school

And always choose love even when others are cruel

Always choose kindness when given the choice

Stick up for others, use the love in your voice

I’ll see you next year, my beautiful friends

And wish you the best as this current year ends

And always remember be both good, and yourself

Goodbye, and I’ll miss you

Love,

Fergus T. Elf.

@dannyboy that’s really beautiful.  It brought tears to my eyes. Your kids are blessed.  Merry Christmas ? 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Greetings from in front of a cheery fire with a never ending bowl of peanut M&Ms and a large and varied plate of German Christmas cookies. This is the dark time of the year in the far north so everything is made more cheerful and festive with plenty of lights and candles. Enjoy the day and enjoy the feasting and festivities with your loved ones!

Well... Santa has been.

The gift I have received is love and hope.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas to all of you!  I hope your day has been filled with love!

Two of my son's housemates tested covid-positive on Thursday.  We had Christmas dinner outside on the patio with my son at a separate table.  It was actually kind of fun that way.  We were fortunate that the weather was perfect: sunny and 73 F.

(My son feels fine, is triple vaxxed, and had three negative rapid covid tests, most recently this morning. Other than the visit today, he is isolating alone.  My husband and I also tested negative yesterday and this morning.)

Merry Christmas from Arizona where it has bee raining on and off for 2 days.  Most welcome weather in a dry parched land.

May you all feel loved and may each of you notice the many blessings which fill your lives daily.

May peace prevail on earth and in your homes wherever you may be today.

Happy Holidays!!

In New York, it was raining before the sun came out by the afternoon. I think the winter will be mild.

Posted by: @ghandigirl

With all of these losses of loved ones, friends, and family, and the added pressure of imperfect/absent relationships, Christmas can feel like a hardship. And even though I think this is so, it is also true, especially in light of our losses, that this will be the holiest of all Christmases in our lifetime.

 

Thank you for this beautiful truth. No matter how hard or difficult our feelings, there is something so beautiful about breathing them in. 

Wishing you all the holiest of holidays.

Thank you, everyone, for your beautiful, lighthearted, and insightful messages. You are reminding me to always look for the blessing in whatever crosses my path.

Last night as I was reflecting on the personal and collective challenges of this past year, I happened to read a quote by Michael J. Fox, which I will share with you:

If you don't think you have anything to be grateful for, keep looking.  Because you don't just receive optimism.  You can't wait for things to be great and then be grateful for that.  You've got to behave in a way that promotes that.

As I came through the darkness, I had an insight about being grateful and how gratitude makes optimism sustainable.  [emphasis: mine]

 

Corsello, Andrew, "Unbreakable: After a tough, dark spell, Michael J. Fox has emerged steelier, more realistic -- and ready to tackle whatever comes next," AARP The Magazine, Dec. 2021/Jan. 2022, p. 38.

 

I am grateful for all of you.  ❤️

@jeanne-mayell ...and all fellow journeyers here, you've made life more sweet and I appreciate you!

Our Christmas was very quiet, without the usual get-togethers, but we exchanged bottles of wine and boxes of chocolates with our neighbors, and emails and photos with family. It felt more heart-centered even as we hunkered down to avoid Omicron. I feel connected to community. 

May 2022 bring you blessings by twos! 

In numerology, 2022 is a 6 year, symbolizing family, social responsibility, compassion, and healing. May it be so!

My father and I got our Moderna boosters today. We arrived at around 8:45 am, where there were at least 10 people waiting before us. We waited until noon to get vaccinations, where the worker made us split into two lines: one for Moderna and the other for Phizer.