In Lieu of Words

I am in a funk. I'm not sure why, I suppose it could be exhaustion, Landon's evil molars, JP's finals, a persistent and unusual feeling of inadequacy or insecurity at work, or a wee bit of stress brought by our property tax bill and value of the stocks we were going to sell to pay it. Yes, perhaps it's some combination of those things. Regardless of the reason(s), I am struggling and do not like it.

Things really aren't that bad, in fact by almost all standards, things are so good I feel bad feeling bad. But whether or not it's justified, I've spent the past 72-hours feeling crappy so I'm offering you these pictures of Chrsitmas decorations and (grainy, shaky) videos of a dancing toddler to keep myself from spending two hours I could be sleeping trying to write something deep and eloquent about my funk. I think that sleep, cuddles, a weekend spent with my dancing toddler and away from my office are precisely what I need to find my normal, happy self.

First a few pictures of my downstairs. I took a box of random, not exactly cohesive Christmas decorations, and stuck them in various places on my usually clutter-free counters. I'm enjoying the temporary clutter.

I made this centerpiece out of a wreath smushed at the bottom of the box, a hurricane glass, candle, and $1.99 place mat I purchased at Wal-Mart late that Friday night, and three little picture holders I bought at Walgreens for 50 cents last year. That wood sideboard had been hiding in a corner of our dining room but I decided our eating area was big enough to accommodate it and it now sits proudly by the table and hutch (both of which I forgot to get pictures of).

I couldn't put much in the living room because of Landon and his penchant for reorganizing items in the house (reorganizing as in hiding somewhere you will never find), but I think the fireplace looks pretty. The beautiful lighted garland was a $36.99 buy at Costco, I'm growing very fond of that store.

This one shows the new TV and stand which I think are much more fun than the loan payments are going to be (they start in January and sadly, both those pieces together add up to one payment). Not picture is our 3 ft. tree with all eight of our ornaments (four of them labeled "baby's first Christmas"), some lighted garland wrapped down the banister of the stairs, and some other festive odds and ends.

And lastly, two videos of my tiny dancer (I have tried to stay silent while taking a video clip find it impossible):