It’s Monday before Christmas for us, and the house is a swirl of pre-holiday chaos. Presents have been arriving via mail, and small towers of randomly sized boxes are leaning precariously in the corners. The gift wrapping station has taken over the dining room table, the quilting cutting mat barely fitting among the bows and tubes of holiday wrapping paper. Sparkly bows occasionally find their way to the pets somehow, and cute pictures are snapped before the little beasts shrug them off.
The day is cold and grey. Rain is sifting from the sky, painting gloom on the Texas landscape. Sometimes it picks up and drums a soft beat on the chimney in the study, reminding us that we need to replace the chimney cap. The grass is lush and green, about the only time it is that green in Hill Country, the sky is an ominous blue grey, and the whole place looks like the setting for a Northern UK crime drama.
The dreary weather has been nipping at the old bulldog, and every morning she faithfully assumes her post by the fireplace in hopes of a fire being started. Today is too warm for a fire, so she decided to join me in the study. Tubby is asleep on the couch, snug and warm in a blanket.
Nykie has finally settled down as well, but first she trailed me through the house as I took holiday pictures for this post, and the iPhone unerringly focused on her in every shot as if to say, “Yes, yes, the tree is nice, but have you noticed this cute black dog?”
This year we bought a new tree.
The last 6 weeks have been a long marathon of focused writing and release preparations, punctuated by an occasional splash of anxiety over the merchandise store and the unexpected curveballs life is so fond of throwing. On the day after Thanksgiving, I stopped editing for a moment to take a much needed breath and realized I was dreading putting the tree up. Dragging the 7 sections from the shed, wrestling with scratchy plastic branches, trying to fit them together, then trying to stab the top into it somehow while perched on a ladder… None of it seemed appealing. And decorating it required so much climbing.
I was actually dreading Christmas, my favorite holiday. It turned out that Gordon was in the same boat. We looked at each other, and one of us said, “Why don’t we get something more manageable?” And so we did.
It is a Balsam Hill tree, prelit with soft white and frosted. We put it together in about 10 minutes with no fuss. Then it waited for a few days, until I finally pushed away the books and files, and announced that I would decorate it if it was the last thing I would do that day. Gordon brewed some decaff coffee, and we hung up the decorations together, sipping our coffee and sorting through the glass birds and glittering icicles looking for the best ones. It only took half an hour and was over too soon.
The old tree, a 12 foot monster, is spending this Christmas in a storage shed, waiting to be donated. It still looks great even after 5 years of use, so my hope is, this new one will last as long and will be worth the investment.
This year the holiday decorating inside our house brings me comfort. I notice all of it, the little funny pigs, the deer with glitter horns, the tree, the outside lights Gordon and I put up – that will be a story for tomorrow – it all adds up to wrap me up in this kind of warmth. It wasn’t that way last year or a year before. Was it this way before pandemic? I don’t remember.
The two releases close together generate a lot of stress. In 90 minutes, we have a zoom with GA regarding Kate Daniels adaptations. The store is a constant source of worry right now, because not being able to review each item as it is printed tips all of my micromanaging sensors. I hope and pray that everything is printed correctly. As I write this, Natanya is asking me for the background image so she can design the wrap-around cover for the print edition of Magic Tides. The list of tasks that need to be done is hanging somewhere in the air above my head: answer emails, implement edits, get the list of ARC reviewers for Magic Tides, finish wrapping, buy a holiday roast, purchase last minute gifts…
At night I settle on the couch to cross-stitch and watch a little TV. I’ve stumbled on Drink Master completion on Netflix, and I really like it, even though I’m not much of a drinker. Yesterday I watched an episode featuring a very accomplished pastry chef. The contestants had to create a dessert-inspired cocktail, and one of the judges stated that it wasn’t something mixologists are typically comfortable with.
The chef smiled and said, “Isn’t that what life is all about? Being comfortable with being uncomfortable?”
It’s so true. Getting through high school, going to college or starting a new training course, opening a new business, releasing a new book, showing your painting to someone else, speaking in front of an audience, moving to a new house, starting a merchandise store, all of it makes us uncomfortable. We have to become comfortable with being uncomfortable to accomplish anything, because things are always difficult and anxiety-inducing at the start. Life is about coming to terms with that discomfort and pushing through. Whether the new adventure turns out to be a mistake doesn’t matter. At least we all tried.
And that’s my random thought for today. Mod R is very insistent that I let you know Sweep of the Heart is now available for preorder on Audible. I have to go now to put out some admin fires. I hope your Monday is warm and happy.
PS Mod R: We are checking on the Audible price, please wait a bit on the preorder until we can confirm. Thank you!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from me and mine to you and yours. ????????????????
Your next to last paragraph really resonated with me. I am that person about comfort and even just change.
Christmas tree is gorgeous!!
Have a Wonderful Holiday!!!
Beautiful tree
i have a request if possible. at one time you had photos of all the contestants. I did not read the book when you had posted it on your site as i like to wait until the book comes out.
could you repost the pictures of the candidates I am having a little difficulty remembering what the candidates looked like and who belonged to who.
thank you
There are lists at the end of the book which contain an index of the characters, with physical description and faction. You have a short list for quick referral and a longer with further insights to help you afix them 🙂
Thank you. Now I hope my Kindle does not lose my last page LOL.
Happy Holidays to all
Warm and cozy is nice, but it’s also necessary to be able to leave one’s comfort zone.
What a lovely tree!
Cute tree and puppies!!! Hope you have a relaxing holiday!
Love the new tree-it’s gorgeous! Just ordered the audio of SotH on Audible. Happy holidays to House Andrews, Mod R and the BDH.
Your Christmas-y house looks lovely. I hope your holidays are joyous and filled with family and friends (furry and not).
Thank you for the wonderful gifts you gave the BDH this year – not only SotH, but Magic Tides! So very grateful!
My minimal decorations are up – the wreath on the door and the aluminum cut out tree – and I even added a bowl of assorted (plastic, because – cats) ornaments. I looked at a more realistic tree, but didn’t see a little one I liked. Perhaps next year on that.
It’s been 30 plus years since I wanted to decorate for Christmas – 20 years of working in retail and 10+ years of recovery. I never did get my “Bah, Humbug” sign. It was my only Christmas request for years…
My big gift this year is my daughter and son-in-law coming down from Baltimore for the holidays. I hope I have convinced them that I will not be ready for them to leave after 3 days, but I will take it if they feel the need to go.
May everyone have the holiday they desire this year. Best wishes always…
Hope they bring you some good crab cakes! Our family Xmas Eve tradition is to have delicious crab cakes and drive around looking at the lights…
Thank you so much for this post! Your writing is so lovely, whether it’s about the most ordinary things or magic and monsters and intrigue. You’ve inspired me to bring myself some coziness, get some things done, and welcome (ish) my discomfort in between semesters, with a big transition to college coming up. I love those little pigs and I hope all of HA has a lovely Christmas!
Merry Christmas House Andrews. Thank you for all the joy you have brought me this year. May 2023 be filled with more (mildly) uncomfortable opportunities for growth.
“It’s so pretty it makes me happy every time I see it.” Isn’t that what holiday decorating should be about?
Thanks for sharing the pretty so we can be happy, too. 🙂
Best wishes to you and your family this holiday season. Hope all the joy and good will to you and everybody else out in the world. Everybody who reads this comment have a Happy Holiday Season and good will in the new year 2023
Thank you for this. I also watched drinkmaster. And that line also stuck with me. I woke up this morning after a horrible vivid dream where I had thrown a piece of plastic rubbish and it had cut my dog in half (almost) and I had spent the rest of the dream trying to get to the vet. I woke up crying and kept crying for twenty minutes in real life my dog is fine if a little over fed. I’m trying to pull off a bunch of things in my work:business life and Christmas and parenting and that feeling of utter uselessness that hounded me through that dream is permeating my life currently. Subversively raising its head saying yep I’m still here you’re still useless. Which obviously isn’t true but my god the stories we tell ourselves. So yesterday I hit pause and had a bath and read Kate Daniels for the 200th (or what it seems like) time and lost myself in that. That’s what your words bring, joy and escape and a pause from our own expectations our own lives. Thank you for that.
That’s the toughest part of dreams – where you keep trying to get somewhere important (even if it’s only Away from whatever’s chasing you) and you just can’t. You’re not useless. You’re a parent who’s trying to get through Christmas and work while parenting. Good for you for taking a break from putting one foot in front of the other. You can’t keep doing the latter forever without doing the former when necessary. Merry Christmas, and then Happy New Year.
Your tree is gorgeous. And whoever gets your donated tree will be V V happy also. Now breathe- year is almost over the BDH is BV Happy and the Merch store has great items.
HA, your new tree is just beautiful! I totally sympathize with dreading setting up a tree. We always get a real tree (which is turned to mulch after the holidays), but I (the busiest person in the house: the present buyer, present wrapper, menu planner, cook, and chief bottle washer!) always seem to be the one ‘cheerleading’ us into getting a tree. We always end up setting it up on Christmas Eve (but leave it up until Little Christmas, 2nd week of January.) The times I have threatened that we won’t get a tree have been met with LOUD howls of protest…and next year, there I am cheerleading again! Oh well, no worries: it is always worth it (once the work is done) and I do enjoy it. There’s something so peaceful and lovely about sitting quietly and just enjoying this time of year…
I am sorry that the store is causing you much stress, but I think all of the BDH agrees that we are happy with whatever we get, perfect or not…so please try to relax, it’s all good. And you are so right, life is all about geting comfortable with being uncomfortable. I think I have heard that vineyards in France don’t baby their vines, as the vines that have to deal with the worst weather, drought, wind, etc. produce the best grapes. I bet it’s the same with people.
Here’s wishing everyone *HA, ModR, and the BDH) wonderful holidays and the best year yet in 2023!
Your tree is so beautiful that I find it tempting to buy one. I live in Oregon though, my husband works in the woods, and I’m not allergic to the tree (I don’t think? So many allergies). It’s so much like a real tree with a light dusting of snow. I think I’ll look up Balsam trees and bookmark it for when I am old and don’t want to fuss with a real tree.
Happy Christmas Andrews!
Happy Winter holidays everyone!
Christmas has leapt out this year as we’ve been preoccupied with “hospital stuff” that just finished last week. And now suddenly it seems like BANG it’s Christmas and rush, rush, rush. Craziness to follow. Though seems likely to be the quietest one in a very long time so not too much madness. But the last minute wrapping has been a bit back-breaking (I normally do it piecemeal through November).
Anyway, hope everyone has a great holiday season and New Year.
I have 2 heated mats for the poodle beast. (she has 3 beds, don’t judge me). They are worth every single penny. She lounges on her office bed while I’m working and will sleep on her back with her paws in the air, snores sounding like and old fashioned percolator coffee pot
Hah I know the feeling about being uncomfortable with the new. last week my company Holiday party was in lower Manhattan. The company would reimburse an Uber from there to my house in northern NJ..but I have never used Uber. Plus the weather was bad&I figured there would be a long weight for the Uber..so I took the train in in the morning, figure I would do it that night. Got to the train okay at Penn Station the night (just made it), was happy. but then the train was stopped 5 stations from mine, the overhead wire was down bc of a tree down ( it was pouring and windy). Before I could think I called my wife, she got me,it was like 20m from our house. I could have done Uber there too….and ppl who took Uber from the party said it went fine. maybe universe was trying to tl me something.
We bought a Balsam Hill tree 2 years ago when the live tree we had cut ourselves died before I could decorate it,we had a tradition of cutting our own at a tree farm since we moved to this house ( I suspect the bucket I had it in may have had some kind of chemical in it,).
anyway the tree is great, it goes up easily and looks fantastic. piece of trivia, the first plastic artificial trees were made by a toilet brush company in the 1930s….
I read this and thought “Didn’t they just get a monster tree last year?” It’s amazing to think just how long I have been reading your blog. I don’t read blogs.
We have our tree up. I was sick. the kids threw a fit and so I hauled myself up and helped husband fluff it. The kids helped husband hang the ornaments.
The new-ish dog ate one of the soft ornaments, so they’re up higher now and only durable presents are under the tree in advance. Mostly unwrapped, to the confusion of my in-laws. But we’ll get there.
Last year I looked at my 10 ft three piece, very heavy Christmas tree and I balked. I also bought Balsam Hill, prelit at 6 ft. I love it. So easy. I put it up right after Thanksgiving and hopefully take down after Little Christmas. Merry Christmas and thanks again for a great week of surprises! ????⭐️ ????
We adore our Balsam Hill tree and it is now 3 or 4 years old and doing great!
I am a fan of the flip-it Balsam hills trees. Two pieces and prelit. plus it rolls and can store in the coat closet. We put the tree up the first Sunday for time change. Helps to have pretty sparkly light to combat gloomy short days. Decorating on Thanksgiving weekend. I do miss the smell of fresh pine needles, but I can go outside and commune with my blue spruce if I feel the need. ????
I too am enjoying the Xmas decorations at home this year like a cheerful 6-year old. Let’s hear it for fun!
This year, everyone I know seems to have slowed down; enjoying pieces of the season as they fit in their lives, rather than stretching to achieve, Martha-Stewart style. Perhaps it’s a silver lining of the Covid years, a relearning that sometimes less is more.
Anyway. Loved the Magic Tides snippet. Thanks muchly. And happy happy holidays.
Happy Holidays to everyone. Thanks for all your books and snippets and voting on characters, etc. It’s lots of fun. Mod R keeps the BDH well informed and inline. Have you thought about putting Orro on a mug?
Thank you so much for the tree pictures. Love the new one!!! For whatever life reasons, this will be the 3rd year with little to no decorations for Christmas. Christmas is also my favorite holiday and the warm fuzzies that usually go with it. Not feeling it for some reason. This helped. Happy Christmas and Merry New Year to House Andrews and all the beloved BDH.
Happy Holidays.
Is there anyway we can get the pictures of the spousal candidates that were shown in your blog for the voting when you were doing the weekly release of Sweep of the Heart. I would love to look at them again while I read the book. I am one of those who waits until the entire book is published before I read it.
Thank you.
That’s a really gorgeous tree! It looks so inviting! Fire up the fireplace, get a cup of hot chocolate, turn out all the lights except the tree, and relax…….. Thanks for your hard work, it is much enjoyed and appreciated. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Merry Christmas. Thank you for sharing your life stories with us and for writing such great fiction. Your tree is beautiful; may it continue to bring you happiness and comfort.
Oh your tree is so pretty!
Thanks for the snippet of your pre holiday prep. I envy your weather. Currently it is 8 degrees in South Dakota with drifts and piles of snow from last week. Too cold to melt. Wednesday we are expecting the hi temp to be -7 and the overnight low of -18 snow about 3inches and winds with gusts up to 50 mph. Thursday also well below zero but hopefully no snow and milder winds. Christmas day should be 45 degrees above zero. Two weeks of horrible weather just before Christmas makes it hard to enjoy the holidays. But I’ll keep trying.
I have not lived well, just strewn crap around my apartment until my last move in September. I boxed everything, paid people to load and unload the truck, and was pleased with my organization here until 2 weeks ago when I realized my Christmas tote didn’t make it here. It had some Lenox carousel ornaments I’ve been collecting and a basic Nativity set. Oh well, things could be much worse.
My mother fell off our back porch and broke the ball joint in her right shoulder when I was 12.
This was close to Thanksgiving. We always put the tree up the day after. Mom was adamant about it. I was allergic to pine trees, so we always had a fake tree.
She was so upset. So we had a family meeting and we decided to assemble the tree on it’s side, then set it upright. We’d have to wind the lights around, but if we were careful most of the ornaments she loved would be fine.
So that’s what we did.
It taught me that Christmas would happen as long as we loved it enough.
Much love this Holiday Season.
Your tree is lovely!!! Mind my asking where you got it! I would like something like it! Im in canada so probably cant get it anyways but ya never know????. Thank you for the post. It really hit home. We just recently moved and its the first time ive ever lived outside the province i was born in. I have days of homesickness. And my girls are really struggling making friends at school which tears at me. Hopefully with time it gets better….. right!? Lol
I am in Canada too.
I suggest you try Canadian Tire. They have their own house brands mostly, but a good selection of styles and sizes of both tabletop and full-size artificial trees, including some that look much like Ilona’s. And most of them are already on sale at about 50% off or better…
Good luck with the new province. It does get better over time, including for the kids in the new school.
In a chaotic Christmas/Holiday season, I so appreciate the reminder to be ‘comfortable with being uncomfortable’ in our lives. It’s a welcome reminder that this is how we grow. ❤️
Bless you! Your stresses sound very similar to mine, although I’m in a science field, not a creative one…but this year, Christmas has been an effort, instead of a joy. It very much helps to know it’s not just me.
And, like y’all, I am choosing to ease up on some things so that I have the energy and attention for others. If it helps at all, I appreciate that you do so much, and NEVER resent it if you take time ‘off’ for real life–you have more than earned a break. Your readers are loyal, and will wait for you!
Your tree is gorgeous with all of your favorite and your best ornaments to cheer you through the holiday season. We put our tree up in the living room and the candy colored lights make me ridiculously happy. The co-pay for my daughters wisdom teeth extraction (all four at one time) is taking a big bite out of the budget, so we are being creative and having a lovely time doing lots of crafts and art projects with things around the house while listening to cheery Christmas music. In the evening after dinner we enjoy watching a Christmas movie with popcorn and apple slices. It has been so pleasant that I think is going to become a regular holiday tradition.
Happy Holidays to HA, Mod R and the BDH!
I’m excited that the Audible of SotH is coming soon and hope GA will also want to continue with the Innkeeper books – they do a fantastic production! I buy both so I’m covered either way! ????
Wow! What comfort in the chef’s reply, “isn’t that what life is all about…………….” I think you have given the Borders Brood a motto for the coming year.
I like your new tree and I am with you in that this year … I just can’t. It took me over a week to buy a tree, get it home, put it up inside the house, then drape with lights. Normally this takes about 24 hours. Did not help that I got a lingering head cold that sapped energy and brain cells.
I have been streaming instrumental holiday music and breaking normal tasks into many small pieces. I am getting out Christmas cards in batches. Shopping has been done online with some local pickups. Working myself up to wrapping. I have everything except table space. Packages still need to be mailed. I did have fun ordering from Fortnum and Mason’s.
I am enjoying my first Christmas, New Year’s, and kids’ birthdays without having to work a 9-5 plus job. I am set on enjoying as much of it as possible. I am planning on baking cookies and pumpkin pie, and am planning small scale breakfast and dinner meals for family and friends who will be visiting us for Christmas.
My snoozy cats send regards to your warmth-loving dogs. May you have a peaceful, renewing Christmas and New Year’s!
Merry Christmas. I hope the merch shop turns out well for you so it is less of a worry in the new year.
I watch an art restorer on YouTube. After he fixes, straightens and cleans a painting, he always starts retouching it at the easiest part. He says it is setting himself up for success.
That is what you did when you got a new and easier tree. Putting up the tree is always the first step. And that is why you feel comfortable with Christmas this year. No struggles with a tree.
It looks lovely, and I love your new floor!
Baumgartner Art Restoration? Because tacks ARE better? Asking ‘cause I may be slightly addicted to his YouTube channel…
“We have to become comfortable with being uncomfortable to accomplish anything, because things are always difficult and anxiety-inducing at the start. Life is about coming to terms with that discomfort and pushing through. Whether the new adventure turns out to be a mistake doesn’t matter. At least we all tried.”
This is fabulous! I’m going to send it to my son.
House Andrews has made the last week of my own holiday preparation madness a bit more bearable thanks to FINALLY being able to read all of SOTH (circumstances that would have challenged an innkeeper’s abilities, including an ankle deep flooded basement of the home I’ve lived in for 20+ years, meant I missed, roughly, the last 50% of the weekly installments. 2022 has given me new appreciation for Dina’s challenges when she first came to Gertrude Hunt – and made me wish for a house capable of instant renovations with the supply of raw materials.)
With thanks from a member of the BDH – wishing House Andrews a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I love Drink Master too! My boyfriend and I watch it every time I hang out at his place. I also recommend The Great Pottery Throwdown for lowstakes crafty enjoyable entertainment.
Got it on Kindle and now preordered on Audible. Yay!
Thankfully I have a Audible subscription so I pre-ordered the book. One credit is one credit and I have a bunch to use. I loved the kindle version and can’t wait to the artist/narrator interpret the book.
Merry Christmas and a happy healthy and prosperous New Year to you, your family and the BDH family.
Have a great week with family – I look forward to everything! Love your new tree. Blessings.