Inspired by the Fat Mum Slim January Photo-A-Day Challenge, I’ve been capturing photos with a purpose this month. Thanks to my iPhone and the Instagram app it’s been easy to keep up. I think I’ll stick with it for February.

Hypersharing, author (the very-smart-and-Harvard-educated) Daniel Gulati argues, is “threatening our sense of happiness.” Mr. Gulati makes good points about those threats,  and he shares thoughts about the ways Facebook fragments our time and threaten the decline of actual close, personal relationships.

But it’s the “den of comparison” that I’ve been considering for days. Facebook makes us accentuate the positive, say the author. That’s causing us to unnecessarily compare ourselves to one another. All of that comparison makes set impossible standards for our lives.

Online, laissez les bons temps rouler, I say. It’s usually my preference to share positive, happy news and lighthearted thoughts and images. My life, of course, has plenty of more sordid moments. Ill fitting pants. Bills. Uncertainty. Arguments, bitterness and my own (numerous, I should add) shortcomings. But it’s life’s peaks that I feel like sharing, not the valleys.

Friends’ beautiful pictures, congratulatory messages and carefully pruned walls shouldn’t be enough to convince you that anybody’s life is totally perfect. No one gets through life without trials and tests and moments that induce tears and rage.

The HuffPo post asks readers for tips. I guess if I had one, it would have to be for social media consumers to approach those platforms with reality in mind. Amidst all of life’s rubbish, maybe many of us would rather share the sunshine.

I had a really lovely time preparing gifts this year and this one was a real treat. I felted some beads and strung them on embroidery floss for my friend Morgan.  That tree was so fragrant the afternoon it was in my house. I will definitely do this again.

Like I said, gifts were fun and I didn’t overdo it. Yay, goal achieved. My husband’s family is pretty good sized (hey-oh in-laws! I know you’re reading…) and it was a finally time to do gifts for the nieces and nephews. I melted down crayons and poured them in star shaped molds, made play dough, upcycled tie dyed t-shirts into scarves, made a few very pink necklaces and picked out legos, baseball and football cards and a few handmade gifts at a local market. It only took me nine Christmases to get on the bandwagon for those loved ones. Pretty shabby, really, but I finally achieved it. It was fun getting it all together.

Speaking of fun, some friends had a Christmas party and the guest list included lots of buddies from our pre-baby days. Catching up with pals we seem to only see a few times a year was oh so Christmasy. Among the delicious noms were tiny beers, creamy and tasty little shots that (a little oddly) seemed to warm the heart and the spirit. Another fun treat.

I wish church were the kind of place you could take a picture but that’s not the case. I guess you’ll just have to envision a warm, Southern, Episcopal spot designed by a ship maker and bedecked with evergreen, poinsettias and candles. The candlelighting and Silent Night singing is always special, and was even more than usual this year since I completely missed Christmas church last year on account of a two-day old babe. I’m pretty sure I saw an usher snapping some iPhone pictures in the balcony so maybe I can get my hands on a few images but in the meantime they are just memories.

After church I made a gigantic Santa cookie and resisted the urge to take a bite. Santa didn’t get ‘er done so there were a few nibbles left for me in the morning. Yum.

Come morning, we discovered the stockings had been lovingly filled and a rocking horse was there waiting for our sweet little guy. Truth be told, Grant was in a sleeping mode Christmas morning, so Pete and I had a few moments to ourselves to open stockings, make coffee, start breakfast and take in Christmas joy and solitude. I know it’s the last year this’ll even be a possibility so that made it all the more special.

Christmas Day for us was basically an amazing Skype marathon. We caught up with our far-away relatives and heard all about their Christmases. I love that technology; it makes the distance so much more bridgeable. Hooray for that.

We had a great standing rib roast and a bunch of sides from our CSA. It was a great dinner and a perfect end to a really great day.

The week after Christmas we were joined by my parents, and my brother, Chris, his wife, Nina, and their sweet little Yorkie, Emma. There was food and fun and music and plenty of laughing, as well as a good number of walks around our neighborhood in the sunshine. We watched the requisite amount of football and enjoyed being together for the first time in several years. Life in the modern world is pretty wild so this was nice.

Everyone seems pleased enough that Grant is showing interest in drum set though we all realize that our family could actually use a bass player. The mood was jovial since we had lots to celebrate, with Pete earning his Ph.D. in 2011 and Chris getting to A.B.D status with his doctorate in music shortly before the holiday break. Looks like 2012 has the potential to be epic. I like that.

One extra special memory was a bike ride with my parents last week. Even after nine Christmases here it’s pretty novel that you can be out on a bicycle in December. July is another story so we get our jollies while we can.

I have loved this Christmas. Now it’ time to look forward to the year ahead. Soon I’ll put the decorations away but I hope to keep Christmas joy in my heart the whole year through. After all, that beautiful, peaceful, joyful feeling is a highlight I’d love to have every single day.

Photos via Instagram. I love that little app! The best camera is the one you have with you, you know.

Now I’m off to clean the hoardy hole that is my bathroom closet. I’m off with a bang. Happy New Year!

I made these delicious cookies for a last-minute cookie exchange I organized at the office. They were tasty and pretty easy to boot. (Brief aside: I used to really mock those recipes but as a working mother I have come to see the virtues of some of this stuff. I stop far short of the diced onions in the produce cases at Publix but I loved not having to actually make sugar cookie dough. Aaaaand aside complete.)

Good thing I am wrapping up the Advent to-do list, Christmas is just a few days away! Tonight I’m making caramel corn and wrapping up one last handmade gift, along with birthday treats for Grant. Seriously, that darling little fellow will be one tomorrow. Wow. What a great week.

There are still plenty of things left to do this last week in Advent. For now I’m just grateful to have enjoyed a few more Christmas (or perhaps I should say Advent) moments. Caroling and hot chocolate – check and check.

So, how about a gratuitous photo of my darling son with my mother? That’ll keep you interested right?

We were at my parents’ house last week on somewhat short notice. It was a treat to be with my parents for a full week, and Mom had a nice time sharing her Christmas tree with little Grant and just generally being the greatest new grandmother on planet earth. Here’s a sweet moment I captured on ye olde iPhone, demonstrating how perfectly suited she is to this new gig:

In any case, here’s where I am with Advent, organized into Did It, Working On It, Coming Up and Not Happening.

Did It
Watch The Family Stone
Watch White Christmas
Actually send Christmas cards
Find an advent calendar (I have really enjoyed keeping up with this)
Figure out the Christmas tree debacle
Check out the Winter Festival

Working On It
Have a date with my husband
Watch Charlie Brown Christmas with Grant
Make handmade Christmas gifts (only a few left to go)
Do not go overboard
Pray and meditate (I have discovered and love the blog Christmased.com, which, along with a book I’ve been reading has been a nice faith addition to Advent.)
Wrap presents

Coming Up
Make Christmas cookies
Make butter brickle and peppermint bark
Make caramel corn and share it with friends
Read the Christmas Baby to Grant
Read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
Go Christmas caroling
Donate to donation box at weekday education
Set up the nativity scene

Not Happening
Sing Advent Lesson and Carols at St. John’s (happened while I was out of town, sad!)

What fun Advent traditions are you demonstrating this year? What’s your favorite preparation for Christmas? Whatever it may be, I hope you are enjoying it wholeheartedly.

What a great Thanksgiving weekend. There’s just so much to be thankful for. We Skyped lots with family, ate some delicious food, got tons done around the house and started to prepare for Christmas now that Advent’s under way. How was your Thanksgiving?

‎”A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.” — Cicero

This little guy has changed my life in the most profound and amazing ways. For that (and for him) I am truly thankful.

Gma and Gpa in the airport with Grant this July

Today’s my parents’ 37th wedding anniversary. {Brief aside: did you know the traditional gift for the 37th anniversary is alabaster?} That’s a whole lot of years. In any case, today and everyday I am grateful for my mom and dad, Steve and Linda.

Mom and Dad, thanks for all you do for your family, for all of your kindness and all of the love you’ve shown me my whole life through.