Here we come a carolin'...

Over the river and thru the woods...Here we come a carolin'...Deck the halls with boughs of holly. O' Christmas tree...ours is tilting a little to one side. My dear hubby put it up while partaking of his favorite beverage, Jack and water. We finally found the ornaments today and the star has been moved from the middle of the tree to the top, a small oversight on the part of the shortest member of the decorating committee. The outside lights are up and glowing and are timed for the appropriate hours so that Mrs. Claus doesn't have to tiptoe outside barefoot to unplug them at midnight.
The manger is silently awaiting the arrival of our Lord and the Three Kings are hiking thru the living room getting closer each day to the stable where the Savior will lie after His birth on Christmas Eve.
On the other side of Christmas, the house is getting noiser and overflowing with our dearly missed college students (2 so far, another arrives tomorrow) and their things. It's strange how quickly you can forget what life was like when the entire gang was packed in the house, although I wouldn't trade it for a minute. And all are sneaking about; a quick trip to the mall, then wrapping paper, ribbon and tape strung thru the house, almost like Christmas garland.
For my part, I have a relatively easy task. Last Christmas we decided that instead of buying lots of expensive material things (I have a particular weakness for gifting people lots of wonderful but sometimes useless stuff), our family would travel to a warmer location as our Christmas gift to each other. So, on Dec. 27th, we leave for Phoenix and fly out early on the 28th for Oahu and then to Maui. We return Jan. 7th. Everyone seems excited about the upcoming trip and the only difficulty so far is that it is freezing here and trying to pack for summer weather is hard when your nose is frozen. And I 'm kicking myself for all the times I walked past the treadmill during the last four months and said, "I'll get on it tomorrow", because now it's tomorrow and in a week I'll have to don a swimsuit if I want to go near the water. Yuch!!! But enough of that, I'll live!
What I really want to say to all of my friends out in the blogosphere is that I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! It has truly been a wonderful year for me to be able to meet all of you, if not in person, at least in the spirit of your blogs. The light of Christ truly shines through in what you write, even on the days when life has got you down. On the days when it seems like our world is quickly falling apart it is wonderful and uplifting to know that the torch of life will be passed on to such bright young adults.
God Bless you all!
More when I return, Aloha, Kitty