Dear Diary

Dear Diary,

It's been a while since I last wrote, but life's been really good. It's Christmastime, after all! The holiday celebration began with my starring role in the Christmas Eve children's service at church. I played the evergreen tree. I think I looked more like Elphaba from Wicked than a tree, but the audience, oops, I mean the congregation seemed to enjoy my performance. Of course you know I hate all the extra attention (wink, wink).

We shared Christmas Eve dinner with Rob's family, and you'll be relieved to know that after much deliberation, I decided to make a clam and shrimp linguini dish instead of the chocolate chip pancakes I was considering. It turned out reasonably well and as far as I know no one got sick.

Christmas morning the kids let me sleep till 8:00 a.m. so I wasn't overly grumpy. The gift-giving portion of our day was a success, even though I had more gifts for Abby than for Ian (how did that happen?) and Rob had way more goodies for me than I had for him. We never seem to get that balance right.

My parents spent the afternoon with us and naturally my dad couldn't just sit and relax. He had to install the new fireplace screen he and my mom gave us for Christmas. Every visit with my dad involves some sort of home improvement. It's a burden I'm happy to bear!

The couple of days after Christmas were equally wonderful. We spent Sunday evening snowed in, reading, playing board games, and generally chilling out. A rare occurrence indeed! And Monday was chock full of friends. Abby and I took in Tangled (two thumbs up!) with Freakin' Angel Kathy and her niece, and for dinner we enjoyed the company of the Mendells and Corsons. We started planning a spring break vacation and then we played Texas Hold 'Em. Not to brag, but I won! I just wish we'd been playing for money. Anyway, it was one of those lovely days with friends that makes your heart feel full and happy.

Diary, I know I've done a lot of bitching, whining, complaining, and kvetching over the past year, but if I stop and think about it, these blessed moments far outnumber the lousy times. They're not nearly as fun to write about, but I should focus on them more nonetheless.

Till next time...!