December? Already?

So . . . well. Ahem. I guess I've been a bit neglectful of my blog. Either I feel I have nothing to say, or too much to say, and either way, I have no idea how to write it. And here we are in December, and still I have difficulty putting my life into words.

We have entered the season of Advent, and rather than feeling the excited anticipation of Christmas, I still feel rather blah. My darling husband put up the outside Christmas lights, and today my dear daughter and I baked and decorated cookies at the church as part of our Advent Festival. The church tree is up and at least partially decorated, evergreen swags hang from the candle sconces, and the lovely nativity is up in the Narthex. And yet I have been stalling about pulling down my boxes of decorations here at home. We're not putting up a tree this year - we won't be a home for several days leading up to and including Christmas day, but our house and dog sitter will be here, so I'd like it to be festive. But I'm having a hard time getting in the mood.

Plus, I injured my shoulder - quite possibly another knitting injury. I know, you're laughing, wondering how in the world knitting can cause an injury! Well, believe me, it can. So I've been putting a warm gel pack on it, taking Advil like a good girl, but I just can't keep my hands off the knitting! Knitting pleases me, calms me, and makes me happy, darn it.

So I sit here, trying to knit gently, hoping it will boost my mood.

I believe my doldrums are in part my laziness of not wanting to drag down all those boxes (ugh) and in part still working through the loss of our friends Lavonne, Greg and Will. The first holiday season without them, and it will not be easy, either for their family or for the church family. We will find a way through, we will have joy this Christmas, but we will also have sadness.

There. I wrote an update. I'd like to say another will come soon, but I won't make a promise I'm not sure I'll keep. Happy Advent!