Random Life Update: December 2022 Christmas, Hanukkah, Oh My!

December was a busy month full of celebrating and tears and stress and enjoyment. Beautiful sentence, I know. I’ve been tired lately and somehow the energy to rewrite that just escapes me.

It was actually a really hard month for me in a lot of ways. It’s strange how a month can be both really good and really painful at the same time. Life, I guess. Makes me think of the movie Inside Out.

For some reason, my energy completely tanked over half of December. I would drag out of bed, fall asleep over my writing, be grumpy at work (my poor co-workers) and go to sleep as soon as I could – not even playing with my beloved gliders several nights.

It was just like all of the progress I made in being a normal person vanished. At work, I became extremely anti-social and spent most of my time avoiding my co-workers and hiding out in whatever half of the house they weren’t in. Don’t get me wrong, I love my coworkers dearly and gey along with them all well. I just didn’t want to be near anyone.

I was so fun to be around. One of my co-workers was even like, “Whoa, Hattush, you left work for us to do. What’s going on?” XD

There were so many moments when my parents were fighting or Mama was depressed and sad or I’d just had enough of everything that I just so desperately wanted to go back to my old coping mechanisms. I was closer than I’ve been in ages and honestly, the main reason I didn’t give in was that I was way too tired and just went to bed instead. But God used that, I guess.

I just crawled into myself and couldn’t find anything to say to my co-workers or to my family. My girls, though, comforted me. Man, they are so easy to be around and they’re the only people (besides my family) that I don’t feel awkward around. They’re so innocent and (most of them) just love you without trying to get anything. They’re not children, but in a lot of ways, they have such a sweet, childish mindset that makes them so easy to love.

In any case, I’m done pouting. XD We had a new member join our pet family this month. Baruch has been begging for a pet for ages and he finally got his wish. Little Radagast the Hedgehog arrived the first week in December.

Last year we did a lot of holiday activities over December and wanted to do the same this year. I missed out on a lot of the activities because I was at work in the afternoons/evenings, but what I got to do was a ton of fun.

We visited a Hanukkah market!! AHHH. We were so thrilled to see that there was actually something Jewish here, lol. We got latkes, looked at the booths, and bought some gelt for Hanukkah. It was so much fun – even though it was a very small building and we clogged it. XD

We did two bake-offs. The first was holiday cookies. We made huge batches and delivered some to the local fire station. The second was just festive foods in general. I did a yule log thingy and it turned out MUCH better than I expected. I was shocked. XD It was all super fun. We took the extras to our neighbor and to the girls/staff at my work. 😉

St. Nicholas Day was on the 6th. Inside of our shoes that morning we found lots of candy and Hanukkah socks! It was also the anniversary of seven years of daily journaling! 70ish journals later, I still don’t know why I’m writing because it’s all…useless. XD

We also had the famous breakfast from Elf.

Yes.

Hanukkah started on the 18th and ended on the 25th this year. It was so strange to miss most of the celebration (since it happened at night while I was working). But man, I was so thankful for the nights that I was there for. It was so bittersweet to sit together in the glow of the candles, listening to terrible jokes, stuffing ourselves with fried foods, and remembering how different the past years had been. It was beautiful, as always, though. And hey, one benefit of not being there was that I didn’t get tired of fried foods, lol!

I had to work Christmas Day, so we celebrated Christmas Eve. It was so sad not being with extended family, but all in all, it turned out to be an absolutely lovely day. We had a massive meal that was deeply enjoyed by everyone.

We read the Christmas story together. Then we did a white elephant gift exchange and gave each other our little gifts. It was so much fun! We ended the day with Hannukah and lots of dessert. ❤

Christmas Day at work ended up being a lot of fun. We had a special meal (WITH CHEESECAKE) and just hung out enjoying the day. ❤

Dovid had his FOURTH birthday! He’s such a massive little man. *sniffles* My little bro is growing way too fast.

Yesterday I was at work when I got a text from Mama saying that she and Daddy had been in an accident. Another car didn’t yield when it should have and the whole front of our van was smashed in. Thankfully they weren’t hurt badly. Mama has a concussion and Daddy got burns on his arms from the airbag, but other than that and being sore, they’re okay. PRAISE GOD. It’s such a huge blessing.

I also got news yesterday that the director of the home where I work is leaving, after nineteen years. *cries* She’s been the best. From the moment I started work, she made me feel so at home and so welcome. She’s always put everyone above herself and has made sure that all the girls and all the staff have everything they need to make them as happy as possible. So when she announced it officially to all of us, there was a lot of sadness. She cried. Others cried.

When the meeting was over, I went up to thank her for everything and hug her, and randomly started sniffling and dripping tears in front of a bunch of my co-workers, which was embarrassing, to say the least. But also at that moment, I felt so at peace, so loved and so…so right. Like…this is where I belong. At least for now. These are my people and I’m so thankful to be here. God knew what he was doing when he placed me here. ❤ He always does!

So December and 2022 draws to a close. I can’t believe that we’re so close to a new year. 2022 hasn’t been the easiest. There was a lot of loss and pain. But through it all, God is here and I’ve grown so much closer to him. Suffering and pain are never, ever wasted. Never forget that.

Love you all.

~Hattush

How was your December? How did you celebrate Christmas? Do you celebrate Hanukkah? (YOU SHOULD! Eight nights of fun and food is awesome!) What is the best/worst part of 2022 for you? How have you grown in your faith, in your life, this year?