Christmas Ornaments 2011

It’s Christmas Day.
Or technically, the wee hours of Christmas morning.
(the night owl in me likes to wait up for Santa)
My mother, sister, and son are in town.
The house is crowded.
But there is a lot of love.
And food.

Mailing Letter to Santa

Aidan’s sent off his letter to Santa.
He trashed several drafts before mailing off the
perfect message.

Aidan and Grandmommy

My mom has always wanted to see Chicago at Christmas.
She loved seeing the windows at Macy’s.
She loved all the decorations downtown.
She enjoyed the cream of chicken rice soup we had at Maxim’s.
She wanted to get a picture with Santa
but the 1+ hour wait deterred ALL of us.

Decorations at Macy's

I have to be honest.
This past week has been a challenge.
I had a fantastic birthday. My facebook wall blew
up with nearly 200 greetings. I got really neat gifts.
But the fates thought a cold would be a good gift for me
as well, complete with coughing, sneezing, nausea, and tiredness.
I am still feeling fatigued, and the random nausea
…is quite random.

Still, it’s much better than
four years ago
When I was in month three of a four month
sore throat and sinus infection.
The pain was so bad that I could barely eat
my mom’s Christmas dinner.

It’s hard having extra guests.
Everyone has to compromise and sacrifice.
The cats are out of sorts.
Our grocery bill has probably tripled,
but it’s OK because we love to feed people.
Everyone is comfortable, well fed, and happy.

All is well.

Christmas Ornaments 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS
dear friends, readers, commenters, and lurkers.

…psst. want a copy of my holiday newsletter pdf? get it here.

🙂