The Christmas is Coming Blues

What is it about this time of year that can get to me? I suppose it's getting to me a little more this year. I told my friend, Dottie that I have the "my dog died, my hair is falling out, haven't been home for Christmas in nine years blues". I try not to dwell on it. I wish my test results would match my symptoms soon, it's a big bummer.
I talked to my mom today and she had a little touch of the blues, too. She found out today in a Christmas card that one of her friends from Michigan died in August. That made her sad and then later, she was going through things and found the little log house that her mother had made and that made her sad (her mom died when she was 18 or 19).
I guess Christmas just makes us want to be with the people we love. ALL the people we love, which isn't always possible. I sure hope we celebrate Christmas in Heaven, there will be room enough for everyone and everyone who has trusted Jesus for their Savior will be there, no one will get left out.

Well, enough of the blues. On to the topic of Christmas lights. Boy, have our lights been a challenge this year. I started putting the lights on our tree before we went to Hawaii, but didn't finish until probably a week after we got back. I got all the lights on there, plugged it in and smiled. Then, all but one strand went out. I did some checking and found that a couple of older strands felt warm, so I took them off and threw them away. I repositioned the rest of the lights and everything went fine, until today. Ian and I were sitting in the living room when the lights on the tree went out. Colin checked and the bottom strand had blown a fuse, so he replaced it and all was well....for an hour or two, then it went out again. Colin fixed it again and everything was great for an hour or two. I told Colin to forget it, unplug that strand and after Christmas I will take it off and throw it away.
Here's something that should cheer all of us up for a little bit: we're going to dog sit a miniature schnauzer for a week. A family from our homeschool group has to go out of town for a funeral (at Christmas...sad.) and we are going to look after their dog, Pepper for them. It will be nice to have a dog in the house again, even if it's just for a week. Maybe those blues will just run off. I wish they would!