Merry Christmas Day

Here it is. It finally got here. Christmas Day! uhmm, :-| not the excitement it used to be. That little tree behaves the way I'm sure thousands of kids are feeling this morning...a tad hyper! However, for me, I'm sitting here with my black cat, Baby, at my side, husband still in bed (well, some things never change!) and coffee waiting for me to pour a cup.

It was last night, Christmas Eve as a matter of fact, before I put any decorations up around my house. That elfin Christmas tree my son left in our garage worked out nicely. As I pulled it out of the box, assembled the top and bottom together and placed it atop the coffee table, it reminded me of "A Charlie Brown Christmas". But with a string of lights and some ornaments, it didn't look half bad. I think it might even be singing a carol like the funny tree on this post. "Oh, Christmas Tree, oh, Christmas Tree"...

After I decorated the tree, I hung the family stockings, with care of course, over the fireplace. The red stockings I've decorated and made additions to with each new family member over the years, has already been filled with an assortment of trinkets and treats, waiting to be revealed. I have to admit, Christmas stockings hanging over my three snowmen on the hearth, makes a cozy sight.

Today, Kim and I will load up our meager offerings and join his family at his brother's house. It'll be nice to visit, share a meal, and exchange a gift. This year we decided not to draw names, but have gifts unlike last year with no gifts at all. So, it was my idea that we each bring one gift that centered around a theme of some sort. You know, what kind of Christmas is it without presents? Well, the theme that was decided by the siblings was "books". Books. uhm. :-| Not what I had in mind, but its something. Let's just say that I've warmed to the idea. When it comes to a reading family, the one I married into are junkies of the printed word. They consume books like a vacuum. On the other hand, I read for information, not pleasure. Okay, that isn't entirely true. Sometimes I read for pleasure, but not as a natural exercise. I have to preplan and preview many offerings before I will settle on just the right context to devour hours of my time. No, I don't take reading a book for pleasure lightly. In fact, I would say that one of the big accomplishments of my adulthood has been actually finishing more than one novel cover to cover.

Tomorrow our three sons and their wives and our two grandkids will be here for our "Day After Christmas Day" celebration with our own family. It will be so much fun to listen to my boys "cut-up" and exchange witty, often intelligent, banter between each other. It fills my heart with love and joy to see those three men together, happily talking and being brothers. That will make this Christmas delay worth the wait. In addition to that, my grandchildren will be playing, running, laughing and opening another round of presents. It is going to be so much fun that my mouth is upturned just thinking about it!

Wherever you are, whenever you celebrate, I pray that you are with someone you love.
Happy Holidays!