nights before Christmas

A busy week. Snow, school parties, Cyndi's parties. Plans for Bennie. Plans for Christmas. The solstice is near. More snow forecasted.

Ariel is in Seattle, too faraway, hanging with Emily, seeing how it fits. Wish she were here.

The Children's Mass is Wednesday. Christmas Eve is so soon. Saturday, the boys had practice for the pageant and the choir. Rylee is a shepherd, Jackson is in the choir. We were so proud of them. Today there is another practice for the choir.
Family may be here for the mass on Wednesday evening to see the boys, and maybe we'll have posole, tamales and ham afterward.

Tasty gifts coming from family. Chocolates and smoked salmon. We have tasty stuff on its way, too.

Friday evening we ate at the ABQ uptown and toured the shops. Don't know when we will get the last of the shopping done. I think there's a trip to Radio Shack this year for electronic games and remote control stuff and a side trip to a sports store for a soccer net.

Yesterday we drove to Santa Fe. We didn't take the Railrunner afterall. We were too busy all day. Parked at the new railyard underground lot and got our tickets at the depot for the Polar Express. For trademark reasons, I'm sure, it's not called the Polar Express anymore. It's the Christmas train. The boys wore their pajamas. All the kids wore pajamas, and some adults, too. There was a conductor, a reader, and, later, Santa, giving bells. There was singing, but mostly because one little girl would spontaneously sing and we'd join in. There was hot chocolate (instant packages and hot water) and cookies. There was a flat car, too; so the boys loved to go out. It was cold and dark and the train really moved along in some stretches. The sky was clear and the stars bright. Snow lay along the tracks.

We ate late at La Choza and drove home. Carried the boys to bed in their pajamas.