This is my brain.

This is my brain on the holidays.

Any questions?

Christmas time has always been a pretty great memory for me.  My brother & I used to "sleep" on Christmas Eve, and then almost pee our pants with anticipation of what Santa Claus brought the next morning.  I hope Emma & Dean love it as much as we did.

I'm trying my best to make it special.  Emma is getting to the age where she will start to remember certain things.  One of my first memories is bringing baby bro home from the hospital.  I was just three...and Emma is fast approaching this age. [in 3 months - ahhh!]  I want her to remember the good parts: wrapping presents, listening to Ray Charles sing "That Spirit of Christmas", the smell of the real Christmas Tree, her favorite ornaments, putting the star on top of the tree, watching the classics on tv, and giving presents to others.  What a great season, ay?

I've got about 80% of the shopping done - which is a HUGE accomplishment for me.  I decided this year I was too poor to just go out and buy them all at once, so I've been slowly accumulating all throughout November.  What a difference this makes!  I feel calmer about it, and I've had time to really choose the perfect gifts for everyone.  I've also saved money because I am not paying for last-minute-rush-to-my-door-as-fast-as-you-can-because-xmas-is-in-three-days shipping.  [heard of that?]

And while the holidays are so special to me, I think I like them too because they make me appreciate the warm months even more than I already do.  For example, I just looked out my back door at all the snow falling, and I realized I have the perfect set of trees to hang a hammock from.  Score!  Lemonade, kids playing, hammock in the shade - is it summer yet?  Just kidding.  But how great is that going to be?

For now, I will just enjoy being all cozy inside my new-old house wondering what Emma will remember from this year, and the next, and the next.....and before I know it, she'll have 2 kids of her own wondering the same darn thing.

Sigh.....