Merry Christmas to All

Christmastime is near...

Whadda you know---I'm off for several days again! This year I get to be off for Christmas which is wonderful.

With the help of Mom (and Dad, too!) my Faerie Door is properly decorated for Christmas. How cute is it!?!?

Mmm...tasty treats!

I am off for the next few days--hooray! My plan is to do gobs of baking. Mom and I have made a list of things we'd like to try, so we better get busy. Last week we didn't have much time, so we stuck to simple things: sugar cookies, spritz, and Mom's favorite, mincemeat cookies. Tonight I'm making some treats to bring to friends at work, and tomorrow we plan on a cheesecake and some bar cookies. But we saved some recipes for Friday, too!!

Not even 2 more weeks!!

Ok, I get that I'm like a kid with Christmas--I love it!!

My mom and I have been getting into the holiday spirit--decorating the house, the tree, the house some more and then today was a cookie-baking marathon. I am finished with my shopping, so I can sit back and enjoy these last couple of weeks before Christmas.

Last night Phil and his friends JC & Lyna, along with their 3 kids, came over for dinner. It was an extremely enjoyable evening.

Funny story: shortly after we moved here (to Central VA from Long Island) my mom called a pizza parlor to order a large pie. The girl on the phone, rather confused by Mom's request, replied, "We don't sell pies," to which my mom's response was, "You sell pizza, right?" Anyhow, my mom has been telling this story for years and last night we found out that it had been Lyna on that phone!! Who knew?

And just when is too cold to run??

Methinks I spoke to soon about not seeing Sue! I drove up to NoVa on Friday afternoon for a 20 hour whirlwind visit! We went for dinner at Chipotle (I think this is her fave place!!) with her friend Katherine and then stayed up until the wee hours unpacking and rearranging, and rearranging again!

Of course since Sue recruited me for the Charlottesville Half Marathon, she wasn't going to let me get away with NOT running, so we went for a run in the 29 degree outdoors and then rewarded ourselves with brunch at OHOP...mmmmm!!

Unfortunately I had to be back in C-ville for work, so our visit was cut short, but very enjoyable!! It's always fun hanging out with Sue!

It's not caffeine, but something's got me!

Yippee! I am now off for the next 3, count 'em, THREE days! No big plans, just putzing around, getting stuff ready for Christmas (have I mentioned how much I LOVE Christmas??). I was going to help Sue unpack, but like her shirt suggests, she is Wonder Woman and has it all under control! (I've been in my house for about 4 years and still don't have it together the way I want!)

Today is going to be a good day as it had a near perfect start that will have to carry me through the weekend.

Hope you're all enjoying the pre-Christmas fabulousness!!

Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

'What are you doing?' I asked without fear,
'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!'
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said 'Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.'
'It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,'
Then he sighed, 'That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.'
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.'

' So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.'
'But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.'

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
'Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'