and it finally dawns on me....

That Christmas is um...this week. Not only that, we do our celebrating on Christmas Eve...especially this year, when all of our nurses (4) are working on Christmas Day. So on Thursday, we start with brunch...then a chipotle-style buffet in the evening.

Thursday is in like three days.

I want to have the whole house cleaned by then. The laundry caught up. A bed all made up for Sam. And cookies, lots of fresh baked Christmas cut out cookies. So I should start right in, instead of sitting here writing about it.

This morning, I wrapped some last minute presents, and finished filling the stockings. I actually have two boxes filled with paper lunch bags with their names on them...I only filled 13 this year...I'll have one of the kids label the actual stockings, and sometime between now and Christmas Eve, I'll transfer the stuff. It was just easier to fill them with the bags, because they stand in the boxes, all in age order, easy to fill with what for whom.

I swept floors and put in laundry this morning too, and took care of the puppies.

Mali and Lydia are coming over today for a visit (yay! This Grammy just loves baby Lydia!) I also plan to bake lots of cookies today. This evening, I am taking Sonja K. shopping for her secret Santa gift, and picking our friend Adrian up from the airport, he went back home to visit his family in Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada).

Tomorrow I have the sonogram to see what's going on with the possible ovarian trouble.

So all told, I have plenty of spare time to finish all my last minute preparations. Oh yeah, I should make a list of what I will need for brunch and dinner, and food for Christmas day. And yeah, I had better shop for it, too. The most wonderful time of the year my arse, ha. Just kidding. I am bound and determined to enjoy all the nooks and crannies of the season, even though, as the Mom, it's head spinningly busy. Right now, for instance, one would never guess, to look at me sitting here with my feetsies propped up on a Little Tikes chair, that I have so much to do. I am enjoying the quiet, the dogs are snoring, the house is still and when the kids get up, their excitement will make me happy. Christmas = kids = joy.

We had a marvelous Christmas celebration at church yesterday...

Our sweet friend Liv was Santa...the kids were singing, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", and out she came with the bag of gifts. The youth each pick a child's name and buy gifts for the children, which is so sweet. They well remember when they were the recipients.


Camille, Charlotte Claire, Danielle...best friends.

We started the day with brunch...Emily made all varieties fo quiche, including some crustless for those of us avoiding carbs. There were pancakes, blueberry and chocolate chip, with whipped cream and syrup. Sausages, juice, and fruit platters. Coffee, tea, cocoa...then dinner, which was planned and prepared by our friend Mel...roast pork with stuffing, mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus...then dessert, by Emily...the best chocolate cake ever, drizzled with melted chocolate...and a white cake, dense with a hint of lemon, served with berries and whipped cream. I had a slice of each, decided to "carb up". When you avoid "junk" 95% of the time, that 5% is sooooo good.

Spending the day with good friends, sipping coffee and catching up, getting encouraged to fight our individual fights of faith in our daily lives...I can't complain.

My son Aaron is leaving in January to be a travelling nurse in California for a few months. Poor Aaron, he's going to miss the whole New York February freeze, the dismal slush of March, the snowy surprises of April...Of course, being his mom, I reminded him of a song we sing in church, "if you move somewhere new, all your cares will move too, but be good, then will all things be good..."

Yeah, so, about that cookie dough...