Annual,not Christian at Christmas blog

So here I am in the bible belt of the country.  Beautiful North Carolina.  I am happy here.   After five years I can say I would not want to live anywhere else.   I don’t want to go back to Las Vegas, California can take a hike.  I am happy here in the South.

Being a stay-at-home-mom and a homeschooler, a lot of people assume I am Christian.  HA! Not so much.  I am Pagan.   I am happy and nope, I don’t care who knows it.   Also I am not offended by anyone or their religious beliefs. To each their own, I say.   What path you choose to make yourself happy and fulfilled is fine with me, as long as you don’t try to make your path mine.

That said, I get angry at the war on Christmas.   Seriously, people, get over it.   It has been around a long time and it is not going away. It does not even resemble the celebrations of old and it is so highly commercialized that it has very little in common either its pagan roots or the holiday the Christians tried to make it.

“Merry Christmas” is not a vulgar term, it is a well wish.  I take it for what it is.   Sometimes I say “Merry Christmas” other times I say “Blessed Yule” or even “Yuletide greetings”.   If your faith is so weak that you are offended by a well wish and you fear you will become a Christian by just hearing spoken words, you need to rethink your path.  As a Pagan, I am not offended that my holiday was stolen, or that most of the traditions of the holiday are pagan in origin. It’s pretty funny to me.  So I put up my Yule tree, and enjoy the yule log, and celebrate in my own way.  I put lights on my house because they are pretty and I decorate because it is FUN.   

There are things to fight over. There is evil in this world. Take the well wishes with the good cheer they are intended, and if you are at a lack for something to say, how about “happy merry everything”, or just a simple “you too”.   Stop getting offended by kindness.

Grammar Police and Other Things You Don't Know About Me

Did you know that spelling ability is not a sign of intelligence?  Read this article; I hope you will learn about my struggles with dyslexia, and grasping the nuances of spelling in the English language. I have an editor or two for my blog so that I don’t make any glaring mistakes here, but left to my own devices, and without the aid of spell check, you would be amazed at how bad my spelling really is.

As a homeschooling mom I am blessed with a child who is a natural speller.   He often corrects my spelling of things.  I figure it is great practice for him.  I do not hide the fact that I am a bad speller, or that I need help to spell on a regular basis.   In fact, I have have come far, and I am proud of how well I do, versus how how I did even a year ago.

I love to read, and fought for years to be able to figure it out.  Dyslexia was some foreign concept. As I got older I learned that I had Fibromyalgia as well, and anyone who suffers with Fibro Fog can tell you that some days it is hard to remember in what order to make the coffee let alone spell it.  

Now, that is not to say I don’t try.  I really do.  I spell check, and ask for help, and change my words when I can’t spell the one I want to use.  Sometimes this is to no avail. I still screw it up and I don’t have an editor for my Facebook statuses, or my text messages.  

My awesome close friends have learned to deal with my spelling mishaps, and are good about just letting it go.  They know I try.  Sometimes I will even note that I have no idea how to spell a word but I need to use it so they know what I am trying to convey.

All that said, it still stings when my lack of ability is pointed out in a public forum.   I guess I could stop using public forms, or just get a thicker skin.  It is hard when you know your spelling just sucks. I am not giving up though.   I will keep trying to do better, and keep learning and working hard to overcome my shortfalls.