{"id":8756,"date":"2014-12-25T05:00:08","date_gmt":"2014-12-25T13:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wordpress\/?p=8756"},"modified":"2014-12-25T09:09:09","modified_gmt":"2014-12-25T17:09:09","slug":"lets-just-go-with-the-default-merry-christmas-shall-we","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=8756","title":{"rendered":"Let’s just go with the default Merry Christmas, shall we?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Through the years
\nWe all will be together,
\nIf the Fates allow
\nHang a shining star upon the highest bough.
\nAnd have yourself A merry little Christmas now.
\n–R. Blane-H. Martin\/Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I get into bed and start writing, it’s just before midnight on Christmas Eve. Christmas starts in a couple of minutes. <\/p>\n

I’ve been out with Paddy and some of his friends for drinks, then to dinner at the Ringside with Paddy and a small plastic snowman. Yes, we brought our own decor to dinner. Paddy borrowed him from my house unbeknownst to me.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_9159.JPG\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I don’t really know quite what to say about this Christmas. It’s been a hard year. There has been a lot of loss. A lot of change. It’s my first Christmas on my own for a long time. Even though it has been difficult, the changes have turned out to be good. In a lot of ways I am happier than I ever have been. Sadder in some ways. Maybe just feeling things more than I have for a long time. Finally. <\/p>\n

I’ve gotten to know some people better, including myself. I have learned that I have a kick ass group of people in my life. People who make me laugh. People who go on trips with me. People who make music with me. People who have my back. People who love me. People who I love right back. <\/p>\n

So I don’t really have any Christmas wisdom to share. <\/p>\n

I don’t have all the answers. I don’t think I have any of the answers. I don’t even know if I will make it to the end of this post without crying. <\/p>\n

I’ll just keep it simple:<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas, everybody. <\/p>\n

I love you.<\/p>\n

PS
\nPaddy and Chelle, you two get a special mention because you have kept my head on more or less straight through some really rough days. You have listened to me, given me advice I have disregarded over and over and never once told me I was behaving like a total idiot. Which I was. You are both kind, smart, funny and generous beyond all reason. Rick, you also get a shoutout for putting up with me all Summer and being the world’s best glass filler. <\/p>\n

Paddy, I also owe you for encouraging me to find my voice again. Thank you doesn’t seem like quite enough. I can’t say I am glad about the circumstances that led us to become such good friends, but I am awfully glad we did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Through the years We all will be together, If the Fates allow Hang a shining star upon the highest bough. And have yourself A merry little Christmas now. –R. Blane-H. Martin\/Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas As I get into bed and start writing, it’s just before midnight on Christmas Eve. Christmas starts in a … Continue reading Let’s just go with the default Merry Christmas, shall we?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Let's just go with the default Merry Christmas, shall we?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n#MerryChristmas #Love\r\n http:\/\/wp.me\/p4FR8-2he","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/IMG_9159.jpg?fit=2250%2C3000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lr3R-2he","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8770,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=8770","url_meta":{"origin":8756,"position":0},"title":"Christmas, short and sweet","author":"Michelle","date":"December 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This Christmas, my first solo Christmas in this century, I slept in. 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Naughty is Universal. Make the most of it!","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/20131224-184823.jpg?fit=225%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8739,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=8739","url_meta":{"origin":8756,"position":3},"title":"How to be as happy as an 8 year old","author":"Michelle","date":"December 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It's great to be 8! --Lily Be happy with who and where you are in life Be a goofball when the spirit moves you Read a book or ten or a thousand Make up random stories about Evil Potatoes Take those stories seriously Remember that French Fries are Good Don't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/20140706-191531-69331077.jpg?fit=454%2C313&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9663,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=9663","url_meta":{"origin":8756,"position":4},"title":"Another Sunday night in the eye of the tiger","author":"Michelle","date":"March 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"As you wander through this troubled world\u00a0In search of all things beautiful\u00a0You can close your eyes when you're miles away\u00a0And hear my voice like a serenade--Dixie Chicks\/Lullaby\u00a0Paddy came over for dinner. 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I don't know.\u00a0 I wandered aimlessly around the house, too sore to sit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Random thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Random thoughts","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}