The work day starts too early.

After all these years, every morning is still that first time I ever had to let go of his hand and watch him leave a room.

But every afternoon is that first time we wrapped our arms around each other and insisted it should be forever! 🥰

Of course, asking me, "What are you doing?" would just get the answer, "Setting a noble example of minding my own business."

But then they might start watching!

Most of the year, I wish people would pay attention to what's happening in their immediate surroundings.

This time of year, I greatly appreciate being able to sit right next to someone and work on making their gift while they have no clue what I'm doing and no desire to ask questions.

I needed to get away from stress and self doubt for a while...so I wrote my #divination post for this week about stress and self doubt.

Really, it's about why movie character psychics aren't really what "psychic ability" is, why scientific explanations aren't always disproving things and you can trust science, and divination isn't as big a mystery as some people think.

https://diydiv.substack.com/p/but-what-if-im-not-psychic

I can still surprise people in the house with how I match my headwraps to my shirts!

That's why I have so many scarves. I need options for what I'm working with.

My last Christmas with my dad was in 2014. Every year, I want Linus to tell me again what Christmas is all about. Because I finally understand why the part of the story I always wished there was more of is how Joseph loved and raised a child he wasn't part of creating.

Dad was the only one who knew why I cried and found my love of the holidays when Linus stood on that stage.

My dad adopted me. I asked him one time if he loved my sister more because she's "really his".

He said, "You're really mine, too. I have the papers from the lawyer to prove it."

And then he told me what nobody had ever told me before. He made being allowed to adopt me a condition of my mom accepting his proposal. He wanted both of us.

I really am his child.

It didn't even matter that it doesn't match to my devotional and spiritual practices. In that moment, that was never the point for me.

And one year, in my 30s, my dad gave me a Christmas card with Linus on the stage on it. When I opened it, it played a recording of Linus explaining what Christmas is all about.

I hugged my dad like I was a little kid again! I said, "That's my favorite part!"

And he laughed and said, "I know. That's why I bought it for you."

My sister-in-law brought home a DVD copy of the Peanuts Christmas special for me. This is wonderful! 🥰 And it's going to be really emotional.

I have always hated the high commercialization and social obligations of Christmas. The part where Charlie Brown cries out for anyone to tell him what Christmas is all about, and then Linus standing alone on the stage and telling him...

That's when I found my "Christmas spirit" every year.

We decided the Star Wars nativity is going to be so epic that it should not be rushed. I'll work on it throughout the year for next Christmas.

I still need to crochet a baby Baphomet for a Sol Invictus gift.

Really fighting myself on making a Christmas angel. Because I want to make it accurate according to descriptions and I know my mother-in-law won't like that.

This is not my time of year.

I'll have to take a picture later with better lighting... I get really excited about rocks! I love rocks! The Earth paints her history in rocks. 💜

Tonight, my sister-in-law gave me a piece of blue apatite. This is not a rock I've known before. Y'all! It's so beautiful! It's like somebody turned a whole ocean into a rock so you can hold it in your hand!

And yes, I named her Scout because "To Kill a Mockingbird" is one of my favorite books. I have never met a character who is as much like myself as Scout Finch.