Merry Christmas!

BEST WISHES FROM SUSAN DUNN AND STAFF FOR A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

The dawning of another Christmas Day. What's it like where you live? How are you feeling emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually?

Here in San Antonio Texas USA it's a perfect day - - crisp and cold with bright sunshine. I was hoping to be able to have a fire in the fireplace, and this is just the day. (It can be 80 in SA at Christmas.) I have a few more things to prepare for the feast, and family is coming over shortly. Then we have taken rooms down at the beautiful La Mansion on the River. The SA River, a great tourist attraction and boon to us locals, is lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree at night, very festive and beautiful.

I feel like I did a reasonable job at Christmas, keeping some balance. I gave gifts I was pleased with, to the people I wanted to remember. They got delivered on time (I checked), and I stayed within my budget. Physically I got the beginning of a sinus infection as I usually do this time of year, because of the cedar pollen. I'm amazed at how well I'm fighting it off though, and think it must be Arbonne's Defense Builder, which has built up my immune system beautifull. I stepped up the vitamin C, got some rest yesterday, and am feeling much better than I thought I might. Mentally, I took a holiday. I just went with the flow. I devoted my mental energy to enjoying the season - - all the beautiful music! I just went with the flow, not keeping to my usual rigorous schedule of writing and reading. I gave my coaching students a week off. Two of them, however, went ahead and took the final last week and are now certified coaches! Monday night I had a session with Kiran, in Mumbai. She and her partner Harry plan to coach EQ in India in a big way, and it's exciting. She was full of questions about our holiday. I was describing the emotional tone of things the week before Christmas, and she said "It sounds electric."

I always think of those who are extra-stressed at this time of year with their jobs, like postal workers, sales people who must meet a year-end quota, restaurant owners and caterers, doctors and ministers, for instance. I met the postman at the mailbox yesterday and I asked him how it was going. He said they'd be working "until the last package is delivered." He looks like Santa, a middle-aged man with a full white beard and a big smile on his face, and "Santa" he is!

I talked with Phillipa who is selling Arbonne. She is training to become an EQ coach, and wanted to offer her clients the full range of help, including the neutraceuticals. She sold over $1000 of product her first month and is excited there's a young man now at her office who's a walking advertisement. He took the Arbonne program for acne, and she said his face is noticeably improved. It's wonderful to be able to offer things that really help people, isn't it.

As I blog, I am listening to my new CD "Ave Maria" by the Russian male soprano Vyatcheslav Kagan-Paley. It has 121 versions of Ave Maria, including the incredible on written by Giullio Caccinin in the 1500s. His favorite, he says, is the Stravinsky version as it is "filled with Russian religious feeling." He dedicated the album to many, ending with "my dear mother Elizabeth."

Won't you please join our Club Vivo Per Lei / I Live for Music?

Well, time to go light the fire in the fireplace and put the last finishings on the house and meal. It will be another great Christmas. They all are, and some of them have been very different from others!

From the mailbag - - how other singles are spending the holidays:

--"Sidney" is visiting his mother and her husband who are 94 and 95 years old and live in an assisted living community in a resort town. He lives in Hawaii and flew in for the holidays. He said his mother was going to cook, and aside from that, he was there to drive her wherever she wanted to go (she only drives to the grocery these days.) There was a poetry reading Thursday night at the center ("A Child's Christmas in Wales", one of my favorites), and he'd been playing pool with his step-father. Friday night took a woman to dinner he'd met through eHarmony. He made plans to play tennis with her after Christmas, as he continues to build a little social network in this adopted town he visits 3 times a year, to see his mom.

--"Hannah" gave her daughter a trip to Africa for Christmas, and has been enjoying the emails about lions and tents. Hannah's having her son-in-law over for Christmas dinner, and had invited her best friend as well, but as so often happens this time of year, Emily is sick. Her son-in-law is from the Middle East and doesn't know US customs or Christmas. Hannah will sure show him all about it!

--"Edward" got divorced in the fall and still hasn't gotten his smile back. He's been a doctor in a small town for 35 years, and will be having Christmas dinner with the family of one of his patients who has 4 little kids. He's looking forward to being in a family environment. Later he plans to enjoy some beautiful music and play the piano.

--"Mabel" is 92 this year. She comes to San Antonio to live with one of her daughters during the winter. The family is gathering, and Mabel is always in charge of the gravy. So many young women (and older!) don't know how to make the gravy, which many of us think makes the meal! and Mabel is needed and appreciated. She's needed and appreciated for many reasons, but on this day, it will be talked about around THE GRAVY.

--"Anne" had a surprise this year. Her son and daughter-in-law made partial plans for Christmas and are driving to be with her, but at the last minute it turned out many things hadn't been done, so she was busy yesterday at the grocery, putting together a quick feast. She says "It's good to be needed," she said, "and I'm at my best under pressure."

--"Maria" is spending Christmas with her large extended family. Christmas Eve at her dad's, and then over to her mother's today, for Christmas day. She's been divorced a couple of years. Her children are still adjusting, and there were some challenges to attend to last week as they did some 'acting out' with school out-of-session. Maria and her boyfriend were planning to get together the week after Christmas for a getaway, but they haven't been getting along so she doesn't know.

--"Sam" is on a cruise. He's just divorced, has no parents, and didn't want to spend Christmas alone. He knew on the cruise he'd be surrounded by people!

--"Delia" is from the Caribbean, and her husband died 3 years ago and it's still pretty raw. She kept busy during the season selling Arbonne and baking Caribbean rum cakes for her many friends. She'll be with her grown kids today.

--"Mary" is breaking up with her boyfriend. They're living in the same house until next week, when he will drive her across the country to get settled in California. When she gave her two-week notice at work, they told her to leave immediately. It's been stressful for her, but today she is with her family in Minnesota. She and her boyfriend both took the StrengthsFinder(r) profile with me last week, and she said she could now see why they were so incompatible. "I didn't realize how differently we think," she said.

Email me (sdunn@susandunn.cc) if you'd like to take this great profile and learn a lot about yourself, and also have a better understanding of how other people think.

Well, one last thing. Your Christmas card from me! Jacquie Lawson has outdone herself with this one. Enjoy this beautiful holiday card or cut and paste: http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=TH34293890