Christmas Week miscellaneous

Waving the plague flag! Arggh, mateys! No, wait, lowering the flag. Ack! Wrong - flag up, flag up! No, no, sorry, really - everything is okay.
All right. Let's just leave the plague flag at half mast.
Poor Cole was hit with a bug, but it's been 24 hours and no one else is falling. Cross your fingers, sit on your thumbs, and smile really big. Plagues avoid smiles. I think. And it's hard to think, with all this smiling. My cheeks ache. Wellness, wellness, wellness! Ommm...

I hope you will abide a day without another Disney tale, as I break in with a current event update. There are a couple of good stories left, & I'll try to get them posted this week.

My Mom and brothers and significant others are arriving on Thursday! Yippee! This will be the first Christmas we have all been together, well... - ever! Usually Jeremy & Susan are other places. I like to think that they will thank me for forcing them to visit. I like to think they will love these babies and force us to leave, just so they can enjoy them on their own. I like to think - oh wait. Clearly the smiling has made me think crazy thoughts.

They are coming so I can enjoy them!

And I am excited in the way that only a housebound mother staring down the face of a few long weeks of school vacation can be excited. Visit! Chat! Imbibe!
I love company at Christmas. That is one of the most lonely parts of living away from a hometown.
Christmas visiting was a ritual. We would go out for a ride, stop here and there, and visit friends and family. It's a country thing too, I guess. City people tend to over-think and over-plan and consider just "dropping in "to be rude, unless it's a neighbor or a very close friend.
I have fallen into that city way, and it's frankly lonely!

So family visiting is exciting and easy. Because, hey - they already know me, they already know it's going to be loud and fun and a bit messy here, and they already know I am not Chef B. I am Chef-Mix-A-Drink-B!

Cheers to you! As I get to the end of this post, Cole has risen from the couch declaring himself better.
Let's believe!
Clap your hands, clap your hands if you believe...