Alone For The Holidays, But Far From Lonely...

So, it seems I've achieved a minor accomplishment...

Yay! Tree!

I managed to get my Christmas tree up! 

The last couple of years, I didn't end up getting our tree up until a week or so before Christmas...so, it's quite a relief to have it already taken care of.

I decided to go for a red and aqua/teal color scheme this year...I saw a few things on Pinterest using this color combination, and I ended up really liking it! From this particular angle, it looks like there aren't many blue ornaments, but I promise that they're there...I started off with blue, added red, and apparently went red-overboard...it would probably help if I used a camera other than the one attached to my phone...

In addition to the red and blue tree, I set up a small tree in my kiddo's room. He loves it...it's a blue tree, with blue ornaments, and a blue star...he's a big fan of blue...

Another accomplishment of sorts...[maybe it isn't quite right to label it an accomplishment]...

This is going to be my first holiday season without a significant other in about a decade. /ponders Yep...a decade is actually pretty darn close.

You know...I really thought that I would be more bothered by being single on the holidays than I am. Just the thought of it seems daunting. What with the season being pumped full of commercialism and marketing as it is, it's nearly impossible to turn on the television right now without being bombarded with commercials featuring ridiculously photogenic couples doing ridiculously adorable things while the ridiculously handsome man pulls out a ridiculously beautiful piece of ridiculously gorgeous jewelry, to which the ridiculously beautiful woman appears to be ridiculously surprised...then the commercial ends with a ridiculously perfect embrace and then the ridiculously inflated promotional prices. [Sensing a trend here? Maybe?]

But, it really hasn't been that bad. Not bad at all.

I'm finding that there's a lot less stress to be had being single during the holidays.

I don't have to struggle to figure out how to plan multiple family events. I don't have to figure out what on Earth to buy his mother, grandmother, and convict siblings [yeah...that actually applies to one ex in particular...]. I don't have to argue about 'who's family traditions are more important.' [Same ex as mentioned previously] It's just so much easier!

Not trying to say that I'd be absolutely opposed to having a 'better half' during the holidays...there are some things that I'll admit that I miss. But none of those things are worth having to endure a terrible relationship!

Maybe it's that I'm reaching that point of being 'okay' with not dating...I really wish that it had been something that I'd realized years ago, but I guess it's one of those 'better late than never' sort of life lesson.

You tell it, Taylor!

Having my kiddo around definitely helps in this case. I have to be rather selective about who and how I date...whomever I choose to have in my life will also be in my son's life. And that's no matter to take lightly! I now realize that in my dating past, I wasn't as selective as maybe I should have been. I made allowances for behaviors that I shouldn't have and I didn't put my foot down when I needed to...but...I've learned from those mistakes. I've got no choice but to learn from them!

So, I'm just not going to date for a while [not that this is a new development...I've been out of the dating scene for a good while now...]. I've got no plans on pursuing dating until I feel ready for it, and I don't feel embarrassed or unsure about my decision at all! Man, it feels great to not have second thoughts about something for a change!

I'm not the biggest Taylor Swift fan [though that's been changing here lately, as well...she just seems far more classy than the majority of female artists today...], but BuzzFeed ran a list of some of her quotes from this year. There were a few that I really liked and agreed with, but this one is, I feel, very relevant. She's a good four years, or so, younger than me, but she's absolutely right!

Who says that it's only the old who are wise? [Not me...nope!]