Merry Christmas to all!

'Tis the season to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Wondrous New Year! I love the Christmas season--the happy lights, the glowing trees, the stockings hung by the chimney with care. But what I love the most is the reason to stop all I am doing and put energy towards everyone I love in my life.

As a teacher and a director and a blogger and a wife and a and a and a....I have so many competing demands on my time that I spend much of my life realizing that I am working as hard as I can, as fast as I can and I am never at the end of the "list". In fact, for my own sanity, I have banned lists from my life. I used to make them, but when I couldn't get what I "needed" to do crossed off, I'd get anxious and upset. A mess. I have resigned myself to doing the best I can and helping as many people as I can--leaving myself time to eat a real dinner and get some exercise. And I help so many kids and I know that I make the World a little bit better by what I do and it fills me with satisfaction and gratitude for all I have.

But Christmas is a time to stop just long enough to connect with and honor all those people who have made my life possible. Not just my parents, but the friends, the teachers, the former students, the host parents, the co-workers who have somehow touched my spirit and left me better off. Some of whom I shared the happiest days of my life and some the lowest, but regardless, I came out better on the other side for knowing them. Some I see most everyday. Some I haven't seen in more than a decade, but all of them are with me always.

Every time I choose a gift and then wrap it thoughtfully and form a beautiful bow I honor the person who will receive it. Every Christmas card I write and stamp is a little connection with someone who I love. It isn't the cost of the card that is important, it is that I chose to spend that bit of money and the moment of time "with" the recipient. And the tighter my time gets, the more beautiful those moments are. I am so grateful for Christmas, because it allows me to share. It is the perfect reason to decorate, to bake, to entertain. To open my home as a symbol of my heart. I love my Christmas party. I love each person who comes to share it with me.

One of the best things that I did this holiday season was to take the student officers and choreographer of the Ballet Folklorico Program I direct to lunch at a nice restaurant. These people bring so much joy to my life. They, even the students, do adult work to keep the program on track and to help so many students grow in their lives. They are my Board of Directors. I loved this lunch. I loved to see them enjoying their little "executive perk". I loved to see them relax and enjoy themselves with me--like people--not like students. I loved giving them a gift-- a little token of appreciation for all they give me throughout the year.

This year, we shared our lunch, at a Brazilian restaurant, with my host daughter, who is here from Brazil. It was with my officers' permission that she joined our annual lunch date--she had served as our DJ at two shows! That was a gift, too. That all of them were happy together and happy with me. And I can be tough on these kids!

I am so lucky to be able to give at Christmas. I am so happy to be able to share at Christmas. I am so happy to be here for another year to celebrate Christmas. No matter where you are, no matter what your faith or lack there of, no matter how many pressures you have in your life, enjoy the glow of Christmas time! Slow down for a minute and share some love.

Merry Christmas to all!