If you are reading this, you are probably either a very dear friend or the friend of a friend. In either case, I have one wish for you...that you have the merriest and happiest Christmas and new year.

   We are getting close to the big day. The stress is almost over. I have to clean the house today and get the china washed. My parents are here from Florida and they are doing the big X-mas eve party for my Moms side of the family this year. Some of Moms side have not seen there their new house in Sandown, so it will be a nice way for everyone to be able to see it at once. Mom didn't want to cook Christmas dinner, so I inivted them here. I have to steam clean the entire place because not only am I gone about 65 hours hours a week and don't have a lot of time for such things recently, but Mom is one of those clean freaks. She always has been. Even while we were growing up, you could have never been able to tell there were 3 adults, 6 kids, 2 dogs and 2 cats in her house. It wwas always spotless. Not if you listen to her tell it, but it was by everyone else's standards. "this place is a mess" to my mom means that little lone piece of dryer lint that stuck to the clothes and then fell off onto the floorwhile she is carrying them on their way to their proper place of rest.  Oh jeez, if she see's that, out comes the vacuum and the entire room gets a once over. LOL

  Dinner will be a ham and a turkey with all the trimmings. It will be served on my Grandmothers china, which I ended up with last year when my parents moved. I have 7 different kinds of veggies. They are bringing pies, because my dad, the prize winning pie artist, insists on making them instead of me taking the easy route and just buying them. Dinner at their house was always 22 people or so sitting at this huge table my dad would set up in the big living room. They had one room which was 30x18 so they had that luxury of having huge dinner parties. We will be having it right at my little dining room table with no white linen table cloth, fancy table runner, or real silverware. I might light a candle or two for a festive touch. Paper napkins are ok right? This might be a good time to pull out the Pachabel Christmas Cannon in D and other serious songs for the season and leave the Larry the Cable guy x-mas medly cd in hiding. 

   Merry Christmas!!