Nothing can stop him . . .

Nothing can stop him . . .

At our home, we’ve been very aware of our List For Santa for over a month now.  Our son knows it is vitally important he get his list in the mail in time for Santa to prepare. I’ve explained that Santa is magi, so we’ll be okay no matter what, but I think he’d rest easier if we get that puppy in the mail.

The list is filled with sweet and wonderful, concrete items that feel so sane, and sweet, and fleeting.  They’re things that truly will bring genuine happiness for a little while.  No filing of neurotic holes with gifts or other sparkly distractions just yet; it’s all good right now, whether it’s a toy pirate wiedling a cutlass, a scooter to take down the street, or a “goldfish I can name Smith.”

Sure.  Whatever you need, sweetie.

But it got me thinking, neuroses aside, what would I ask for from Santa?  Some may be those oft more intangible things, and some are as concrete as, well, concrete.

So I started my list.  It’s tentative–I still have 9 days to revise.

1) An internally-generated desire to–and love for–cleaning the house.  My house.

2) The ability to conjure, on demand, meaningful, plot-forwarding scenes. i.e. The ability to summon my Muse like she’s a veil-wearing genie trapped in a lamp.

3) Julie Anne Long to write and release minimum 3 books a year that feel like Perils of Pleasure or Like No Other Lover, only different.

4) For me to start liking things that are good for me.  I mean this very specifically.  I don’t mean things like ‘Men who don’t diminish my self of self-worth’ or such.   I mean things like: Green beans; Running around the track in a sweatsuit; Lifting weights.  That sort of thing.

5) To sell more books (Oh, wait.  Santa already delivered that, via a 2 book contract with Abby Zidle at Pocket Books, just last week.  Thanks, Santa!)

6) A loving, funny husband who supports me in my dreams, even so far as letting me not earn a penny to pursue said dream.  (Oh, wait.  I am living that one too. )

7) A healthy, bright, funny excited child who’s still young enough to call me ‘Mommy” and “Mama” and “My love,” and snuggle on my lap, saying one of the above–or all of them–over and over again, while kissing me.  :-)   Oh, yes, I have been given that, too.

Hmm, maybe I should focus more on what I have, rather than what I don’t have.

England, 1152: After seventeen years of civil war, things are about to change...

England, 1152: After seventeen years of civil war, things are about to change...

Maybe I will give myself and my family a Christmas gift from the heart this year.  Maybe I will devote myself to focusing on being more appreciative of them and how they’ve enriched my life, rather than what could be different.  And certainly to stop telling myself that “different” automatically equals “better.”

Maybe I don’t need Santa after all . . .  Maybe, by now, I can give it to myself.

Oh, heck . . .  I admit, I could really use that whole ‘I love cleaning!’ bit.  Pretty please . . . ?

So, what about you?  What’s on your list to Santa? And what can you give to yourself this year, instead?

Oh, and by the way . . . if you (or your kids) need proof that Santa really is coming, check this out.  NORAD can prove it.

http://www.noradsanta.org/