Night before Christmas Eve

It's trying to snow again. Ariel is in Seattle. Merry Christmas to you, Ariel, and happy holidays to all.

Somehow we are ready for Christmas. All but pictures out to family and friends, which we will try to get out for New Years'. The house is decorated, the Christmas train is under the tree in the living room, and the Polar Express under a small tree in the boys' room. Lights and wreaths outside. Another train on the lawn. The village is up, the snow babies, the creche, the Advent calendar, candles on the mantle, biscochitos on the counter, stockings to be hung, and lots, lots more. Easily half our storage is Christmas decorations.

We finished the gingerbread house last night. It looks very funky, but the icing and candies hide many sins. Jackson is finishing his letter to Santa. He's including Rylee's wish list, too. Surprisingly, Santa may get the letter and bring many of the things they wish for. Now if they only stay nice long enough not to get bumped to the naughty list.

We have broken down and gotten Jack a DS handheld game player for Christmas. We are both insisting on monitoring and limiting the games he plays, and we found a game called Professor Layton and the Curious Village, which sounds like it is a good (award winning) game with a story to follow and many, many logic puzzles to solve. Some of the puzzles may be a little hard for him, actually, and it will require him to read a lot. Maybe it'll be a good game for the family. The game takes advantage of the stylus and touch screen feature of the DS.

We didn't decide until this weekend to get him the game player, and I spent Monday morning going to stores and calling around to discover that there was not one DS player left in all of the city. So I tried Amazon, and sure enough it is being overnighted for only a couple of bucks more, along with the game, which we would also never have found in town. It's been a kick to track the player and game from processing to warehouses to local centers to hubs and then to Albuquerque, all in the space of about 16 hours.

Cyndi has gotten the boys presents (and clothes, of course) along with a few other small things I had ordered a few weeks ago. We also got them the remote control vehicles they asked for: Rylee is getting a muscle car and Jackson a "monster" truck. Those should be big hits and great battery drainers. Ry is getting a junior-sized soccer net and ball. "It's one of my sports," he says. Tonight we will sort through everything and decide what gets wrapped and placed under the tree and what comes from Santa.

We got a ham for Christmas Eve, tamales and taquitos, guacamole and chips, rolls, salad, wine and beer. Cyndi is making posole (hominy and pork, served with red chile and maybe a side of pinto beans), too. The family will all be in town and in and out to eat after mass, as Bennie is still at the skilled nursing center, where we will have a (somewhat potluck) supper on Christmas day. The family thinks he will be moving right after Christmas, either home or an acute physical therapy center. Since we are having an open house on Christmas Eve, we probably should get makings for luminarias, too.

Cyndi's gotten small gifts for nephews and nieces, and I managed to ship stuff to my family. Nothing extravagant, but I think they will be enjoyed. Meanwhile, we are receiving boxes and cards from family and friends.

Wednesday is Christmas Eve, and as I've mentioned, there will be the Childrens' Mass. We need to get there by 4 to get a pew for the family, to get Ry in his shepherd's costume, and to get Jack to a last-minute choir practice. Afterwards it will be time to switch on the lights, even light a fire, for posole and ham and possibly a little Christmas nip, visit Bennie, and then put the boys to bed in their Christmas pajamas.

Fortunately, I do not believe there is much assembly this year, just a lot of charging to do. Christmas Day we hope will be quiet and peaceful, with maybe a hike in the mountains during the day. We plan to have a second Christmas with Ariel when she returns after the New Year. She will spend more time in Seattle and Bainbridge Island with her college roommate, Em, and maybe even visit Portland for a week just to look around. Then fly home.

Big, wet snowflakes are falling now. Much love to all.