Merry Christmas

 I wrote last year about the fact that Christmas as an adult seems so different from Christmas as a child.  As a child, Christmas day was always filled with activity, long past the end of the unwrapping of presents.

A few minutes ago I took some hilarious photos that I'll have to upload later or tomorrow.  I'm sitting here with my laptop, catching up on emails, and sending emails to a few treasured friends who are really more like family, scattered around the country.  My dad, T. and my mom are all sitting around the living room with various books.  The tree lights are on, and there is Christmas music playing, but we're a pretty low key bunch today.  Things will liven up again with a few more gifts when J. returns with his girlfriend in tow (there were a few gifts for the two of them together, or for her that didn't get opened this morning with the rest of the presents.)

Quiet and reflective it is.  I actually think I like it better this way.  As my brother joked, "It's family time if we're all reading in the same room!"

Later we'll join the extended family for the big dinner, cooked by my aunt who's been a bit of a gourmet hostess for years, and her son, who is studying at a prestigious local cooking school and wanted to host all of us this year.  But, for the moment, we're just hanging out, having silent "family time".

Praying you all enjoy the beauty and peace and joy of Christmas today and through the coming weeks and year.  This is a season where hope comes in the tangible form of a baby, and that, perhaps, is my favorite truth of all.