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Healthful Holiday Cheer

Posted by Trish Milburn Nov 29 2011, 12:01 am in eating healthy, exercise, Holidays, Trish Milburn

Over the past week or so, there have been several chilly to cold, rainy, grey, dismal days. That plus stress has had me a bit down. But yesterday I found a way to perk myself up — decorating the Christmas tree while listening to my Christmas music CDs. As I listened to Bing Crosby sing “White Christmas” and my favorite Christmas carol, “Silver Bells,” I assembled the tree and pulled out more than 20 years worth of ornaments.

Those ornaments have memories attached to them. There’s the engraved heart from the first Christmas my husband and I were dating. A homemade lace ornament one of my college roommates made for me. Seashell ornaments my husband and I bought when we visited Myrtle Beach a few years ago. On my mantel sits the oldest Christmas decoration I have — a tiny plastic manger I gave my grandma when I was a little girl. When she died when I was 10, it’s one of only two things I kept.

There are some new things this year, too. My sister and nieces are coming for a visit soon, so we’ll be doing Christmas with them early. It’s the first time I’ve been with my sister anytime near Christmas in 14 years. So in honor of that, I bought new stockings and stocking hangers for them and my mom. And it’ll be the first time I’ll be able to watch my nieces open their presents, so I’m excited to be able to wrap them and put them under the tree this year instead of packing them all to the post office to mail them off.

It’s the first Christmas after my dad’s passing, so I’m trying to do what I can to make it as happy as possible, especially for my mom. I think having the bigger-than-normal family gathering will be good for all of us. I’m being very aware of appreciating time with my family, especially after a big scare last week. My sister slid on ice on her way to work and rolled her car. I’m beyond thankful that her only injuries were some bruises and soreness.

So in the weeks ahead, I plan to listen to lots of Christmas carols, go driving to look at light displays, balance healthful eating with some holiday treats, get in my exercise to work off those treats and alleviate stress, hug my family, watch holiday movies, and just enjoy every moment to its fullest.

What do you like to do to really enjoy the holidays and steer clear of stress or seasonal blues?

4 Comments

Comments

4 Responses to “Healthful Holiday Cheer”

Anna Sugden says:

November 29, 2011 at 8:16 am

Your plans sound wonderful, Trish. I can’t wait to start decorating – we usually leave it until the first weekend in December. I make it a special me-day with my favourite Christmas film on the DVD.

All our ornaments have special memories – we try to get one from everywhere we go, so that our tree is something we can look at and smile. We also have childhood ornaments and ones made by my DH’s kids. We buy them and my sis’s kids an personalised ornament each year too.

This year’s ornaments come from our trip to Australia! We could only find two – a Kookaburra and a Wombat – but they will grace our tree.

Hugs to your sis on her lucky escape. I’m very close to my sis too, so can imagine how relieved you are.

We have a rule about no travelling on Christmas – anyone is welcome to our house to join us, but we don’t travel. This comes from the days of travelling a lot for work, but also from the days when my parents were divorcing and I had to make Christmas special for my little sis. In our house, the way we like it and without the stressful members of the family is our favourite way to celebrate!

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- Trish Milburn says:
  
  November 29, 2011 at 12:28 pm
  
  Oh, I bet your ornaments from Australia are really cool. I have a couple of cool ones from when I went to Door County, Wisconsin too, some from Texas, etc.
  
  We always have to travel at Christmas, and it’s tiring and nerve-racking (wracking?) if the weather is iffy. Someday I want to go to the beach for Christmas, decorate a tree (and maybe some palm trees) and just have anyone who wants to join us there come on down.
  
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Michelle Butler says:

November 29, 2011 at 10:16 am

I hope you and your family have a marvelous holiday season! I think dedicating yourself to staying in/enjoying the moment can make the holiday season better. I also recommend not stressing over what you can not control – the old lesson that the only thing you can control is your reaction.

If the seasonal blues are strong, you may want to try to identify the emotions – why you are feeling so blue – and come up with ways to work out that emotion. It will hurt while doing it, but you can feel better after. Best wishes for a happy holiday season!

Reply
- Trish Milburn says:
  
  November 29, 2011 at 12:31 pm
  
  Thanks, Michelle. Part of the blues is just the dismal weather. I hate all the gray days. I’ll even take a really cold day if it’s sunny. I can always wrap up in layers and go for a short walk outside to soak up some Vitamin D.
  
  It was really nice here on Saturday, felt like spring, so I did a lot of yard work. I felt so much better after doing so. Alas, it turned off cold and rainy the next day and it’s in the 30s and gray today. But I’m wrapping Christmas presents and cleaning house, so lots of movement and activity.
  
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