Yeah, I just need to chill. Not have expectations. I just had this vision of Ellie's Firt Christmas and it's not working out that way. It will be okay, I know. I'm going to try vw's radical acceptance thing and see if that helps. After all, it's been a fine day, just not what I thought.

Merry Winter Thing, everybody!

We opened presents last night, which included a yoga mat and Kate Bush's latest for her, and a small Peruvian chess set and a brand new 10" c-wrench for me.

The Kate Bush cd is just fantastic. I've missed her these last twelve years. Her music is amazing and her lyrics are, as always, uniquely Kate Bush. The last song on the first disc includes the following bit of imagery that is as masterful and poetic as she's ever been:

There's a city, draped in net
Fisherman net
And in the half light, in the half light
It looks like every tower
Is covered in webs
Moving and glistening and rocking
It's babies in rhythm
As the spider of time is climbing
Over the ruins

Happy Season's Weirdness, everyone!

Deena, insent (not necessarily coherent, but I was in the middle of a coughing fit, so what can I say?)

I may have talked my sister into drinking a hot toddy. All of her boys are very musical - the youngest in 8th grade is in some kind of regional multi-school-district honors orchestra or ensemble, and the older three are all in garage bands. The eldest is earning extra cash not only leading the occational worship service at church, but also just about ready to be actually getting paid for gigs with his band.

Ooh. I was wondering whether her new CD would be good - think you may have just convinced me to go out and buy it, Sean.

Hec, the Zmayhem Family Christmas sounds splendid. They should film it and show it every...well, yeah, you get the gist.

(trying to stifle vast envy wrt Puppet Angel. Flatmate and I laughed ourselves almost incontinent over that episode. The nose being the point at which I totally lost it, and was reduced to an insensible, weeping, aching, hyperventilating wreck on the sofa for at least five minutes straight.)

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and best wishes for whatever year-end festival you celebrate.

I'm going to be sappy and post my favorite Christmas poem, by William Henry "Adirondack" Murray:

Ah, friends, dear friends, as years go on and heads get gray,
how fast the guests do go! Touch hands,
touch hands, with those that stay.
Strong hands to weak, old hands to young,
around the Christmas board, touch hands.
The false forget, the foe forgive, for every guest will go
and every fire burn low and cabin empty stand.

Forget, forgive, for who may say that Christmas day
May ever come to host or guest again. Touch hands!

Fay, if you like dear Kate at all, you must go get it at once. It's quite something wonderful.

Ginger, that is lovely. Damn, I'm getting old.

It's a bit of a most welcome lull. It would be nice to take a nap since I only got maybe 3 hours last night. But if I do that it would be disturbed by the arrival of BIL and family and I would think unkindly of them.

I made 3 lasagnas. Yum. One very meaty, one no meat spinach, one alfredo sause chicken and spinach.

And it is a good thing I didn't lay down because guess who just arrived.

later....

Thanks for the tacklehugs, folks. My family here are doing OK for the most part: it's been a very up-and-down year.

May all the news today be good, for all of us.

Karl! Adds a smooch to the tacklehug.

My Christmas wish came true. BIL's EVIL wife had to work and he arrived with his son but no wife. Yay! Sorry, but her being here never ends well. She would end up fighting with DH and I would be miserable. Yay!