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A tale of two Christmases

As of 12 p.m. yesterday, I am off until 1/5, without having to take any vacation days. Ah, the perks of working for a university. :-)

This year, our actual Christmas Eve/Day celebration(s) will be about the least eventful I can recall. The hub's mom and grandma were to come down just this afternoon, and then we would head to 5 p.m. mass, for which J and the children's choir would be singing. But unfortunately the MIL came down with the flu or something, so here we are on Christmas Eve, with nothing much to do. My mom has been in TX visiting with my little brother and his family for almost four weeks now. She should be back this weekend, so we will celebrate, just after the fact. But it is just weird for me not to be around my family (besides my immediate family) during these few days.

I am pretty sure the kid still believes in Santa, so there is that, but I am also pretty sure I will tell her what is what afterwards (or maybe tonight, if she brings up putting out milk and cookies, and I, the terrible liar that I am, won't be able to go along with it). Until then I will enjoy following Santa on NORAD's app/site.

I finally mailed my Christmas cards this morning, which was an accomplishment for me. I was not in the mood to create (i.e., select pictures), write, or send any out this year. Sadie's death affected me so much more than I thought. And I still miss her terribly. Bailey, the new dog, is driving me crazy. I am glad we have her, as it is helping at this time of year, but the amount of things that have been destroyed in our house (not to mention our constantly bitten hands) tempers the excitement. 

But back to the cards. Every year, it seems that fewer and fewer people send cards (at least to us), but knowing that this is the only connection I have to some people, I could not give it up. I tried to put a card together online last weekend, but at that last minute, did not submit my order. I bought some cards on Sunday night, but did not feel like writing anything. Then yesterday, since I was home by early afternoon, I decided to, once again, try to put something together via Walgreen's website, as they can print your cards for store pick up in an hour. I sent our fewer this year myself, mostly just to those who sent us ones, plus another half dozen. But in the end, I am glad I did so.

Here it is, including Jordan and both dogs: Sadie, lower left-hand corner, because she was with us for over 11 months of 2014; and Bailey, upper right-hand corner, because she is our dog now.


I want to end this with a few pictures of one of my favorite places, Phipps.Wishing all of you out there a merry Christmas. May your days be merry and bright.










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Comments

bluzdude said…
Love that last shot. That one would be a calendar shot for me.

Merry Christmas, Facie.
December 24, 2014 at 5:44 PM
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