One of the keys in life, for me anyway, is to stay open to change. Otherwise, we live similar years and call it a life. My life changed when my daughter moved out to start her own life, but it took time to realize how much her absence would effect my everyday.

She came to visit for Thanksgiving and opened the kitchen cabinet looking for some of her favorite cups, but I had sent them with her. I have limited cabinet space, so that cabinet holds two each of my favorite glasses and the same goes for the hot beverage mugs. There’s plenty of mugs to share, but they are all my favorites.

Christmas was a difficult holiday after leaving my marriage and becoming a single Mom. After spending half my life impersonating Martha Stewart, I no longer had the income for that, so I opted to spend what I could on the most meaningful. That was usually a festive wreath for the front door and the Christmas tree, but my daughter and I have the most hilarious adventures around Christmas trees that still make us laugh to date.

When she moved out, there was no joy while thinking about buying a Christmas tree. Who would enjoy it besides me? Well, my lovelies…there is zero wrong with that.

A couple of years ago, I threw the Christmas tree stand that we’d used for decades in the trash, but last year after Christmas, I was walking through my happy place and they had a stack of good quality stands on clearance. I couldn’t resist the quality at such a dirt cheap price, so bought one and brought it home. It’s been sitting on a shelf in my gardening shed all year, but soon I’ll bring it inside to clean it up. This year I’m going tree picking all by myself.

I haven’t asked her yet, but I wonder as my daughter strolled through the house on Thanksgiving Day if it still looked like ‘our’ home, or more like mine?

Some of her favorite things remain, like the purple chairs, but even her bedroom evolved into a studio which I’m sitting in to write this.

I began thinking about Christmas back in October and have ideas that make me smile in regards to what it could look like. I didn’t think it would take this long, but after 4 years of living solo…I love the way this life feels, sounds and even smells. The little things that have forever made my heart sing are slowly resurfacing and I feel confident the Christmas tree will shine just as brightly this holiday season with an audience of one.