Stop and Smell the Owls....

Ready, Set, Go!  

Do you feel like the holiday season is always the 50 yard dash? 

I do, 

and today I was reminded to enjoy the little moments....

the good ones, I mean.  

So this week has been the mad prep for my annual ornament party...

So much hard work, culminating in a really fun, satisfying night with friends.  

We ate, 

we drank, 

we created the coolest, most original ornaments ever, 

and we bought some fab Stella and Dot bling.  

These gals are the best....ya know who you are!  

After the last reveler went home to tuck her kids in bed, I cleaned up and hit the hay. 

Was it worth the planning, millions of errands, cooking and labor?  

Yes...I just wish I stressed a little less beforehand (so does my charming husband).  

Speaking of T$, he is usually my wing man who creates ambiance with lighting, a killer fire and great music.  

Instead, he was big-rigging it to and from Indiana to get some Suburbans or something.  He rolled into the house about 4am.  This man works more than anyone.  

Anyway, with all parties from 2010 in the glorious past, I felt the relief of just enjoying the rest of the holidays, notwithstanding finishing shopping and planning Christmas dinners, etc.  

  

So, I pick up my son from school and come home.  

He decides to break rocks and look at them in his microscope outside or create a meth lab.....

A little crazy, but who can quash a potential budding scientist?  

Somewhere in my motherly recesses, I decided to make him a hot chocolate, which he loved.  

Score one for the mother!  

As I scanned Facebook, I came across this ,  

I am warning you, grab a box of Kleenex...  

"Mom, Why are you crying?"....yeah, it broke me up because, well, you'll see....  

Then, not five minutes later, I heard the most raucous cawing out back.  

Jack and I looked up to see a massive Great Horned Owl hanging out at the top of our maple,
in our back yard.  

He was the most awesome sight.  

Only problem was that three huge crows and one large hawk were telling him he was trespassing in their 'hood.  

They put up such a fuss that he finally took flight.  What a wing span!  

Someone was telling me to stop and enjoy this moment, hug my son and make him hot chocolate.  

Life may suck sometimes, but this moment rocked.  

I am dubbing him Rose, the Christmas Owl, because he made me stop and "smell" him........