Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve - and yet another holiday seems to have rushed upon me and Kate. Thanksgiving was like that. We thought about it, registered that we needed to prep for it ... then boom! Time to start cooking! :-)

Christmas hasn't been quite so bad but a few things that we intended to have done before this week didn't get done. We've been doing a little scrambling in the last few days to get ourselves ready but we've also made a concious effort not to allow ourselves to be stressed out about things we can't finish.

After all, it's Christmas, right? This isn't a time for worries and frets - this is a time for joy and celebration! It's a time of happiness and renewed hope! Whether or not you're the spiritual type - regardless of what Christmas means to you - no one can deny that this is the time of year when hearts soften and minds open. People always seem kinder and more generous around this time - even between the hustle and the bustle of last-minute shopping. It's a wonderful reminder of how good we can all be - we just need to remember throughout the year how we feel during these few days.

But enough with my sentimentality. :-)

A bit of bummer news: Due to some severe snowfall in the northwest and a lack of de-icer for the airport, most of the flights out of Seattle got canceled, including the one that was to bring Kate's siblings (Aileen, Glynnis, and Dan) down to Colorado. Kate and I are both sad that they won't be able to join us for the holiday and we both hope that they have a wonderful Christmas at home regardless.

We're still expecting my side of the family. My parents and my sister's family will be coming up tonight (Christmas Eve) and will stay through Friday. Also, Emily and Jason will be coming up on Christmas afternoon to join us for a big holiday dinner. As I write this, Kate is probably zipping around the house, getting things cleaned up and prepared. I also have a handful of things to do before my family arrives (like actually wrapping their presents!) but I've also promised to help Kate finish with the cleaning.

We were originally planning on taking my family out to dinner at Hu Hot tonight, but it turns out that they won't be open late enough for us tonight. So instead, we're going to make up a big pot of mostaciolli and bread - a nice easy meal at home. Should be good. :-)

I guess that's it for now. I wanted to post some pictures of me and Kate decorating our Christmas tree, but I haven't had a chance to download the pix from my camera yet. Maybe I'll put 'em up later.

As always, thanks for reading and, of course, have a wonderful Christmas!