December 25, 2006 - Overfed and Happy

As usual, Christmas Eve meant overstuffing myself with the amazing food laid out for Noche Buena: ham, turkey (with stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce), mashed sweet potatoes, bread pudding, fruit salad, hot chocolate, hotdogs (filled with cheese, wrapped with bacon and baked in tomato sauce), and baked macaroni. Opening presents was therefore a bit more difficult, what with all of us feeling lethargic and sluggish (ah, the tryptophan kick, thanks to the turkey). Our presents this year were really nice! Nicole, of course, had the biggest haul of all. It is her first Christmas after all.

I guess the rushing and the stressing and the malling was worth it... the gifts we gave one another brought out the hugest smiles (the biggest smiles came from the fact that my brother actually tagged the gifts he gave, chicken scratch handwriting and all!!!) and warmed all of our hearts. Love filled the yuletide air.

I realized last night that yes, all of us are truly blessed with the families and friends we have... loving, warm, generous people that make us laugh, hold our hands when we cry, celebrate our triumphs and console us when we fail. They gift us year-round with themselves, and I am thankful for them.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ONE AND ALL!!! AND MAY 2007 BRING MANY BLESSINGS TO YOU AND YOURS!!!