Merry Christmas!

The Christmas preparations have really taken their toll on my available blogging time. But here it is, Christmas Eve eve, probably the busiest day of the holiday season for me. Middle Monkey has school today, but the other two Catholic school simeons have the day off. They shall be my helpers today! Today is the traditional clean-the-house challenge. I try to put it into a religious perspective. The mess in the house represents our sinful nature and how we can lose focus on the final ultimate prize of salvation. So that stack of papers left on the dining room table is a sin which must be cleaned away in preparation for the Savior's birth. O.K. The Pope may think I'm off my rocker, but it's the only way that I can have a happy attitude about a job which is pure drudgery. I was even in a good mood at the grocery store today. The place was packed with people who thought they were going to beat the Christmas food shopping rush. There were women everywhere who looked like they had just fallen out of bed and headed straight for the produce aisle. (I was one of them.) And if the three thousand or so of us who were inspecting fruit and lettuces were the ones who avoided the rush, I hate to see what the place is going to look like later this afternoon, or even tomorrow. But, like the comraderie that forms in the trenches of war, all of us had smiles on our faces and were laughing and talking to each other about all the work we have ahead of us over the next 36 hours or so. I was even pleased to come across my mother-in-law in the dairy section, and I spared her the walk home by driving her once we both battled through checkout lanes.
But I am a very happy camper. I love this time of year. The Christmas tree is almost decorated and good friends are coming tomorrow to share "La Vigilia", the traditional Italian Christmas Eve meal of fish that I will make. We'll go to church together, too. This is the part of Christmas that I love. Nevermind the presents. It's the gathering with loved ones and sharing meals and laughter. We celebrate the wonderful gift that God gave to us in Jesus Christ. Share His love today and throughout the entire year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!