Christmas Memories...old and new...

so...raise your hand if you are a baby boomer like myself and your mother cooked a fabulous dinner and was still bombed by the end of the night...those broads could do anything while sipping Manhattans in the kitchen!

this year kt and i cooked 15 3lb. maine lobsters and 2 filet roasts for 16 people while i drank egg nog and she drank water that tasted like cough syrup(?!)...it was a fabulous dinner...just like my mother's!

My husband and i are taking a huge trip to the wine country in june so we decided no gifts...well, that sucked! A little something couldn't hurt...am i being too materialistic?

My Jake made me a mixed music CD...he got the "no buying presents college student exemption" again this year...but more importantly, he sat with me Christmas morning, played it and told me why he chose each song...now THAT is a gift...

Christmas eve was very different this year...first, I got a chance to see much love and care surround a favorite niece who is in for some serious medical treatments...I then saw my little brother and his 4 kids and assorted "friends", "fiancees", and "fruitcakes"...fun!

I read the Polar Express for the 18th year and everyone had a great time making fun and joking around...I gave my Godchild the bell and he handled it with great maturity...and in the end I got applause and everyone "got" the message...very cool

3 out of 4 kids came for breakfast and we had 1 hour around the table of earnest, interesting conversation...not as typical as you would think, but oh so rewarding...

In the end Billy and I came home...and felt satisfied...at this time in our life we can't ask for more than that can we?

Joan Didion

So...I had dinner with my girlfriends last night and one of them complimented me on this blog...she said she loves to read it and sometimes even shares it with co-workers...she even said she looks forward to it. Just as I was feeling good about it another girlfriend said,"I don't get it...like, what is it? what am I supposed to do with it? Do I have to answer it all the time?" The first woman said...,"No, you read it...it is there to read and affect you one way or another" and I said, "no one needs to answer my blog...it is for the universe to read..."

So...after that conversation I decided to print one of my all time favorite quotes from one of my favorite authors...

"I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means... What I want and what I fear."

Thanks Joan, I could not have said it better myself!

Chuck Had It All...And He Knew It

So...I went to a funeral last week...one of my most favorite teachers lost her father too young and she was just devastated. She gave a beautiful eulogy helping us to get to know him a little better...and then a friend and co-worker spoke. He said something that just struck me that day and every day since...he said, "Chuck Had It All...And He Knew It"

This little sentence has been in my mind...and my heart... since I heard it...WOW, why don't we all know it? Why don't we all realize that our life ...our simple family life...would really be special to so very many people...we have love, we have laughter, and we have each other. Even though so and so hurt our feelings in June and such and such didn't remember our birthday and what's her name didn't come to our son's game...they are still ours...let's put THAT in perspective...no matter what...they are OURS...and now I think, "Lucky Me" instead of "They drive me crazy!"

So i have to be honest, here...I have decided to embrace Christmas, even though it is my least favorite holiday. I have had so very many wonderful ones and just a few that I allowed to ruin what is family moments...MY family moments...year after year.There is a reason for this season...other than religious...and that is to remind all of us to stop, take a breath, and be grateful for our bounty.

In an ideal world, holidays would stay fixed in time, stuck on endless replay at our happiest moment when everyone we love is present, smiling, with a full plate and a happy heart. No one would ever pass away, move away, split up, get sick, go off to war, have a cancelled flight or be kept away by spiked gas prices. Real life, however, is in a constant state of flux, and that's rarely made so poignant as during the holidays when most people are comfortable sticking to traditions. This year I am going to embrace all of the family changes and realize once and for all...

SUSAN HAS IT ALL...AND SHE KNOWS IT!!

Happy Holidays