Don’t you think that the week before Christmas is sort of knock-you-off-your-feet levels of craziness?

There are parties, friends and family coming into town for the holidays, and general Christmas Merriment Festivities to partake in. Gifts to wrap and deliver. If you haven’t finished your shopping yet, you might still have gifts to buy. Thankfully, I’m all done with that phase – I finished up in the middle of the month, the earliest I have ever finished in my entire life. Most likely because I was so worried about planning my family’s Christmas trip. So there’s that. And then there’s going on the trip, which is a whole other beast to tackle.

And then there’s work. I’m still working. I like to try to take advantage of these semi-quiet weeks when most people are on vacation to finish up projects by the end of the year. So, basically, I wish I were dead. The sound of my own iPod makes my brain melt and I should really be writing documentation 24 hours a day at this point if I really want to make my arbitrary deadline. And that is the problem with jobs where you assign your own deadlines.

And, if you’re a crazy obsessed self-improvement whore like I am, you basically just can’t keep your mind from wandering to the fresh calendar year. 365 days full of potential to try new, fun stuff and grow into a better you! I want to make lists. I want to make lists of lists I want to make and then I want to cuddle with the lists in my sleep and maybe make out with them quietly when no one else is looking. That’s what I want.

And then there’s just the normal, everyday stuff. Like working out three times a week and feeding myself and getting my hair done and baking cookies and, you know, showering. When I have time. And blogging. I really wanted to blog this week. (So I did, see?)

But I’m giving myself a break from saying anything important, and giving myself a break from holiday festivities, and giving myself a break from self-imposed deadlines for juuust a bit. Do I want to do all these things? Yeah. They sound fun. Most of them were my idea. But I went to sleep too late last night and Tiny Santa was late making her deliveries this morning and was therefore even later to work. Pause. Guess what? That’s okay because it has to be.

The holidays are a time of indulgence and overabundance and, frankly, it’s just too much for me right now. So. Press pause. Stop to enjoy. Breathe. Make yourself a peppermint mocha. Take a second to let the chaos swirl around you because it’s self-made: the best kind. The chaos that comes from All The Things That You Love, crammed into the span of the next 12 days.