Dear December,
Whew, you were a doozy. We have made it to level 12 of this year and I think that, in and of itself is quite the accomplishment, considering this whole year.
This month was ALOT in a weird mix of good and odd. I have been in my bookkeeping position for a year and it has been quite the learning curve. My to do lists this month seemed to never end. Some mornings, I went in early to get a head start and that wasn't enough some days. With a new investment contract coming up and getting things together for the new year, it was an extra busy month. I sure did learn a lot this whole year but especially this month.
My paddle board arrived early in the month and that was the best early Christmas gift, I bought myself. I have been stalking the Body Glove website since the summer and I waited until they had a super sale, which was before Thanksgiving and I bought it. Now since it has arrived, I am so excited for warmer weather to come.
We got our first 2 snowfalls this month, they weren't anything that accumulated but it was really nice to see snow, it felt like December finally.
One thing that really stood out for me this month was kindness. There were so many random acts of kindness that I witnessed, it really brightened the hard days. I was on both ends of the random acts of kindness- providing kindness to others and having kindness provided to me. You really never know what someone is going through, you could really change their whole day around.
My anxiety was front and center this month, unfortunately. The middle of the month was pretty rough for me and I think everything just sorta hit me all together. The normal holiday stress, COVID and the pandemic fatigue, the anniversary of my grandma passing, normal pressure I put on myself, etc. I figuratively hit a wall and I re-evaluated what was going on, I took a deep breath and went to bed very early one night and I felt much better. Also crying seemed to help too.
I bounced back from that anxiety to a weekend full of finals and homework. I am never waiting to do the whole weeks homework and TESTS for the weekend especially at the end of the semester. The struggle was real and I got through it in about 5 hours. EEK! I was very happy to have the semester end and to find out that I got A's in both my classes. Wahhooo!
As Christmas approached, I was not that excited for it. It didn't feel like Christmas to me- it was missing something. My parents and I did try to get into the spirit by waiting for Santa to drive by in a Firetruck (Apparently this is a Jersey thing?!) and we drove around looking at Christmas Lights and we decorated for Christmas but something was missing.
We spent Christmas together and it was simple and perfect. I spend a lot of time with my parents in general, spending time with them on holidays seems special and my mom always knows how to make something extra special. My mom and I cooked together for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was the perfect Christmas for us and I wouldn't have changed it for the world.
I am glad this month (and year) is ending on a high note. I am content with how this month went. I have started to get things set up for next year and I don't know about you but closing one year and starting off the year with a clean slate, I feel sets you up for goodness.
December, you were a lot but I am happy I got to experience it, ALL of it.
-gabrielle
