Get the mail.

Read the mail.

Smile.

Bring the trashcan back down the hill on trash pickup day.

Remember that it IS trash pickup day.

Decorate the Christmas tree.

Decorate the house for Christmas.

Bake old family recipes.

Wrap gifts.

Shop for gifts (especially on-line!).

Make a mess in the den while I’m crafting and leave it there!

Use a French coffee press.

Load the dishwasher.

Savor sixty years of tree ornaments.

Remember the stories of the tree ornaments!

Correctly set up the ipod (with booster speakers)

Listen to Christmas carols anywhere in the house.

Carry a mug of coffee to the living room without spilling a drop!

Feed the dogs.

Color intricate details in a favorite adult coloring book.

Type letters, journal entries, family nonsense on a Macbook Pro.

Read email.

Delete email.

Text my siblings – all five of them.

Laugh hysterically.

Leave the bed unmade for half a day.

Move a large desk with hutch (halfway through the whole house). All by myself.

Figure out how to move large pieces of furniture. By myself.

When I look at life from this perspective, there is much more that I can do than that I can’t.

Excuse me … The old family recipe for fruitcake is lying open on the countertop. Ingredients are at the ready. There is work (playing) to do.

Merry Christmas, everyone!