by Amanda Landreth, STCU
EWI of Spokane Chapter President
Happy Holidays!
As our November guest speaker Larry Krauter taught us, I’ve taken on a new meaning of the term bleasure: business, and leisure. The idea of mixing business trips and events with leisure sounds like something we all need more of, especially as we enjoy the holidays this season with family and friends.
I’m not sure about your home, but it seems like this year everyone has been very vocal about one thing: to decorate or not to decorate early. I’m typically one of the very traditional people who always waits until the beginning of December, however, this year I was ready the minute we got some weather that was below freezing. I think I surprised my children when I suggested we decorate early to enjoy it longer. As we pulled out each decoration from the boxes to put on the tree, I quickly found myself trying to bite back my recommendations about where it should go so the tree will look like I want it to. Instead, I let my daughter put them where she liked and tried to take a mental snapshot of this time together that I never want to forget. We listened to Christmas music and told stories about each ornament they’ve made in school—you know, the kind that has excessive amounts of glitter with a photo of them that year. By the way, as much as I cringe at the glitter, those are some of my favorite ornaments as a reminder of how quickly they grow up!
Our time together seemed to go quickly as we got the tree decorated, and the holiday houses set up, and they ran up to bed, excited to see the lit-up tree the next morning. I shuffled around the decorations that were all clustered at two different heights so we didn’t have as many bare spots, and remembered that this tradition will soon become a thing of the past, reminding myself to savor each year.
The thing I love about traditions is that you can create your own or continue to do what you know. Either way, it’s up to you. Our EWI Chapter continues to offer many ways to give back to our communities, helping those in need during this holiday season if you are looking for new traditions or ways to give back.
As we move forward into a new year, I hope we experience more ‘bleasure’ and have the opportunity to make new traditions or enjoy those you cherish over the years. Have a wonderful holiday season with family and friends!