Perhaps a smile

Every year I go into the holiday season hoping it will go smoothly, and that no one will flame out. It's a modest dream, and sometimes it comes to pass.

I no longer strive for "picture perfect," or anything even close--that way lies madness (trust me: I know this for a fact). The less I try to control things, decorate things, schedule things, and be all things for all people, the happier I've found that I'll be. 

It's not that I'm the Grinch . . . well, sometimes my inner Grinch does come out. Too much Christmas music, especially before Thanksgiving, will nearly always do it.

But I'd rather do a little judicious decorating than turn my house into a sparkling holiday jewel box. I'd rather check out Costco's holiday dessert aisles and take home a few prize items than spend days on end baking 58 different varieties of Christmas cookies.

A Christmas tree glows just as beautifully in the dark when it has a moderate number of ornaments on it, as it would if you loaded it with every ornament you've ever acquired or been given.

And I'd rather laugh than write a long post. So perhaps you'll enjoy this small collection of smiles (or perhaps wry grins) about the holidays.

I just had to throw in at least one "writer" comic. This is certainly what I hope for, each year!

IMAGES: Many thanks to Eat Hard, Work Hard for the "Stressed" meme; to Love This Pic for the "Christmas Tree in the Dark" photo; to Brian Gordon for the Fowl Language comic, and to Shoebox Greetings for the Santa-on-Facebook comic--BOTH Kansas City-sourced! I deeply appreciate the wonderful Debbie Ridpath Ohi, and her "Will Write for Chocolate" comics;