You Can't Keep Christmas from Coming!

Ready or not, Christmas arrives.

On Christmas Day, we were home on our own, as usual. Gone are the days when anticipation woke Sarah early and Santa came the night before; she slept till 10:00 a.m., and her stocking wasn't filled till that morning.

We had baked French toast for brunch then opened gifts. I didn't take as many photos as usual (there seems to be a pattern here). Sarah got Uggs boots and the latest water bottle. Don got a heated bird bath, "What an Owl Knows," and a gift certificate to Tractor Supply. And I got a set of interchangeable knitting needles, a pair of earrings, and some alpaca socks, all of which I'd chosen for myself weeks before. But my favorite was an ornament of Abby, which nearly brought tears to my eyes, and certainly will in the future.

Abby got a new squeaky ball, to replace the one we've worn out playing "puppy ball" in the evenings, and a pig that squeals at the slightest touch. She quickly became obsessed with the pig, bringing it upstairs at bedtime. I told her to leave it and lifted her into bed.

The next morning, I opened the bedroom door, and she came in like a shot, looking for the pig. I scooped it up and put it on my bureau, telling her it was too noisy and she'd wake Sarah. She was not amused.

In the afternoon, we watched football (mostly for the Beyonce halftime show, in my case). We had our traditional Thanksgiving leftover turkey with fresh fixin's for dinner.

I caught up on cookie baking the couple of days after Christmas, making chocolate spritzes and gluten-free sugar cookies for Sam.

On Saturday, we celebrated with George and the Huntleys at Mom's. Kelley's girlfriend Courtney joined us, as did Bryan's border collie Panda. It was the usual happy mayhem, with lots of good food. When Abby grew tired of the big dogs, she retreated to my lap.

My cookie deliveries to friends happened on New Year's Eve, instead of Christmas Eve, this year. I stopped by first Liz's, then Kim's, in the late afternoon and had wonderful conversations with both, outside, as it happened. I came home happier than any New Year's Eve party could have accomplished. I feel blessed to live in a place I love with good people close by. Okay, 2025, let's do this!