Greetings from here

to you ... Merry Christmas!

It's hard to believe that the month of December has arrived. It is harder still to believe that it is rapidly vanishing into a long line of yesterdays and Christmases Past.

We had decided last year to just skip Christmas before John Grisham came up with the idea in his book which turned into a Christmas movie for this year. We put out no decorations. We forewarned relatives and friends that we pretty much were going to not be doing all the mad shopping and to not look for something from Santa from our direction. We were cutting back on the insanity. No Christmas shopping. Can you even conceive that? It was like this huge blanket of frustration was stripped from me and I slowly began to grin and then to quietly enjoy the season.

Now this year is here and after last year's vacation I am determined to not buy into the madness again. However we are reinstating some of our Christmas traditions. We have always put up our tree the first Saturday in December. So with great humor, Christmas carols blaring we joyfully went to work. Now every year some horrible disaster happens when we put up our tree. I have some stories to tell... but that's not for today. This year we were excited because everything was going well. Commenting on the fact that we would get this tree up without a disaster was probably not a good idea. We pulled out the lights and began checking them. The first string tested and I handed it over to my daughter to begin placing it on the tree as I checked the next string. Wouldn't light. Not one single bulb. I checked the next string. Not one single twinkle. Well, this isn't a big deal, it's either a bulb gone bad or needs fuses. I started with the easy part and changed the fuses. No go! I stared at the 100 lights that refused to light. Grinned, stuffed them into a bag and out to the trash, then headed to the Hardware store for new lights. I'm NOT checking all those bulbs. I'm no Griswold and I don't need a traditional Griswold family Christmas Leave that to the neighbors. Soon I was back and we were in business. Up went the lights, then the ornaments. The tree was gorgeous and we were totally proud. So not such a disaster, just a minor setback. Hopefully, the entire season will go by as smoothly.

This Saturday we do the Christmas bake like a crazy person thing. Cookies to die for, fudge that melts in your mouth, made by my daughter. Then we box it up and mail to family in friends. We are happily packing up a heart attack/stroke in a box and mailing them off to people we love. Isn't that crazy?

We still have got to tackle Its A Wonderful Life because if you ignore Christmas or celebrate it full throttle you should watch this movie. Heck you should watch this movie even if you don't buy into the whole Christmas saga. It is a great film.

Our Christmas season is coming along quite nicely so far. The weatherman has been generous and with only one real snowstorm this year we aren't yet buried alive.

So cheers to you! May this be a very special time filled with joy, friends and family no matter what you acknowledge or what you find to celebrate.