merry christmas

Happy holidays to those that don't celebrate Christmas. I hope you have a safe & happy holiday season with your family & friends.

Merry Christmas to my friends, family & followers (& everyone that reads but doesn't follow).  We've made it through advent & are now only hours away from Christmas.

It's unbelievably hard to be away from my family at Christmas, & I'm never doing it again if I can help it. That said, Joe & I are doing our best to make the holiday our own. We'll be dog-sitting, heading to midnight mass, making some French goodies, drinking wine & enjoying our first Christmas as a married couple.

Surprise, surprise. I left our first Christmas ornament at home. It will have to be our "first Christmas in the U.S." ornament. Our humble tree has served us well & kept our spirits afloat, with the help of the Christmas music they pump into the streets around town. 

I'll be listening to Bing Crosby & Perry Como, thinking of Ohio & wishing for some buckeyes. I'll be thinking of all of you, praying for your safety & sending you warm wishes. Here's a Christmas prayer from Robert Louis Stevenson to warm you up today.

The Christmas Prayer

Loving Father,
Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds, and worship of the wise men.

A few years ago, I made my family a mixed CD of Perry Como Christmas. It was a bit of a disaster. "Frosty" (a song my family doesn't particularly enjoy) got on their twice. One of the files turned out to be Bing Crosby. One was, well, I don't even know. We still listen to it while opening Christmas gifts, & I'm always embarrassed.

Here's some Perry Como that I got right for you guys:

Merry Christmas! I'll be back to blogging on Dec. 26.