Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to my 5.6 regular readers! This is going to be an unusual Christmas for me, because I am not singing with the OTHER choir at the Lutheran church for the first time in sixteen years. Christmas Eve just won’t seem the same without all that late-night singing! Travalon and I will probably get to bed at a reasonable hour so we can make it to his family’s gathering Christmas morning. In the afternoon we will go to Richard Bonomo’s house for his Christmas dinner. At first Travalon said his family wanted us to bring cookies, so we got all the stuff to make them, but now they want a cheesecake instead, so maybe I’ll make the cookies for my coworkers. I didn’t get them anything, but one gave me chocolates, one gave me a handmade ornament, and Handy Woman made pistachio craisin bars. No wonder we all gain weight over the holidays! I am not a big one for giving or getting presents, preferring “events” to “things.” If you hang out with me regularly, that is worth more to me than some little trinket, unless it is a really cool rosary. I’ll make an exception for that, but like so many people, I value time over possessions. True confession: I did buy myself a from-me to-me present today at Trader Joe’s. They have ornate pots with four kinds of spring flowers forced to bloom early: tulips, narcissus, paper whites, and crocuses. They are all white and should look and smell wonderful when they bloom in my office. Then next fall I can plant them in Rich’s garden, and they will come back to delight us every spring. That is the kind of gift I love most – one that keeps on giving!

Famous Hat