Christmas memories

-As I waited for daughter's plane to arrive, I watched one traveler after another pulled into welcoming bear hugs and kisses. Delighted parents asked their weary daughter and husband how their trip went with their three small children. "It was hell" replied the harried young mother while her little sugar plum of a daughter literally danced and twirled through the crowd. A nervous Dad was reunited with his equally nervous gangly daughter, who probably had grown several inches since he last saw her. One Mom was there in a Santa hat to greet her twenty something son. A reserved Japanese girl let out a muted squeal when she saw her family. One young woman traveler just looked totally exhausted. A college student after exams or one of those delayed by the Midwestern storm? Maybe both. And finally my own lovely daughter arrived, twenty minutes early no less. What a blessing!

-Singing along to The Messiah with daughter on the long drive home and seeing the brilliant full moon with Mars nestled next to it like a mini-moon.

-Watching"It's a Wonderful Life" with the family on Christmas eve. I hadn't seen it in five or six years, so it was fresh and inspiring again. It's my favorite kind of Christmas service.

-Visiting my dear old mother at the nursing home and seeing the tears in her eyes and her face light up when she saw two of her grandchildren. My gratitude is great for the men and women who work on Christmas while the rest of us have the day to be with our families.

-The wonderful, thoughtful presents I received. And the strange, "what-were-they-thinking?" presents I received.

-Son and the Hubster burning up all the Christmas wrappings and a t-shirt I gave to Hubster. He hadn't seen it in the box. Son noticed it when something burned oddly. Memo to self: don't wrap items inside a t-shirt, even if it were inside a box which was wrapped with paper.

-My sister-in-law is a fabulous cook. Her daughters and son are also excellent cooks. All of the above create an amazing Christmas feast. My contributions were two pies, the classic green bean casserole and a big green salad. I spent all of Christmas eve afternoon baking. My body still aches.

-Other daughter calling during the family dinner and passing the phone around so she could wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

-Closing the tailgate of my car after loading up the presents and dishes to return home, I looked up at the stars in the clear crisp night sky and said with all my heart "Thank God, it's all over!"

2:21pm
Agenda for today:

Drink fancy coffee and mess around on computer(done)
Finish crossword puzzle (done)
Take a walk (done)
Eat leftover coconut cream pie (done)
Drink fancy tea from Dean&Deluca (doing)
Take a nap (next thing to do)
Drink more fancy coffee which daughter brought from place which roasts beans on premises (the next next thing to do)
Do another crossword puzzle (optional)