Merry Christmas!

I am almost ready to relax.

I have been busy! I took on a million sewing projects all in the month of December, while studying for finals and finishing course projects, and being a mom, and teaching piano. . .and I loved it! Yes, I was busy, but I was so, so happy inside. I love this season! I would stay up into the late hours of the night sewing away, with my Christmas albums taking turns in the CD player. It was a glorious feeling to be creating beautiful things with my own hands for people that I love. It brought me so much joy. Even when the needle in the sewing machine broke. And broke again. And broke again. And when I ran out of thread of a particular color six inches before I was finished satin stitching on a project for Lyndsay and had to drive back out to Joann's in the torrential rain. Even when I was finishing up the last of Caitlin's gift and the sewing machine motor burned out on me, and though I took the whole thing apart and cleaned and oiled, still nothing. So then I remembered the old green tank that Adam bought me for Christmas that I put away without ever figuring out, and lugged it out. I cleaned it all up, read the vintage instruction manual ("Dear Homemaker, . . .") and guess what? It worked great! Until late last night when I was almost finished, and the needle broke. But oh well. I was finished enough, and satisfied with what I had accomplished.

And so tired.

So, I packed everything up, and called it good enough.

This morning I got up and wrapped everything. Can I just tell you how excited I am to see the kids open their gifts? I cannot wait! And then I can also show you what I've been up to.

Today we will finish up the rest of the baking, which up to this point has been done entirely by sweet Lyndsay, my life saver. We will do some cleaning up, some movie watching, some playing, and tonight Caitlin and Sean will join us for a pot roast dinner, caroling and delivering our treats to neighbors, and some Christmas Eve stories and cocoa.

Sounds perfect to me.

p.s.-- My friend who lost her baby this week wrote up the birth story, agonizing and beautiful, if you'd like to read it. In my post I mistakenly wrote that she was a week overdue. In fact, she was due this week. I corrected that.