I love Christmas!

(Two of my beautiful grand girls. They decorated our tree this year.)

I’m a Christmas Eve baby. But before you go and pity me, let me say that this was a blessing. Because I’ve got a twin brother, and my mother was born on December 27th, which made her very sensitive to the fact that birthdays surrounding Christmas tend to be ignored.

And my relatives—the ones who entertained our clan—made sure that my brother and I were acknowledged, too.

Those Christmas parties were wonderful. We got to share in the ‘specialness’ of the season, complete with amazing music. Several of my relatives were professional singers and pianists. After those parties we kids went home sleepy, arms filled with gifts, and minds saturated with fine music, hearts filled with the wonder of Christ’s birth.

I’ve never lost my love for Christmas. Everything about it. I love the crowds at the mall, the Christmas music, the Salvation Army ringers, the Santa, the decorations and trees and lights. I love preparing a feast and feeding my family and friends.

The other day I caught our local Santa—who has a real beard and twinkling eyes—checking his cell during an off hour. It made me laugh because it’s so illustrative of the times. I wonder if Santa even has a paper list anymore. Maybe he’s got some giant database where he alphabetically stores names and gifts given.

Santa caught me smiling and waved me over for a selfie:

Isn’t he adorable?

And this is a closeup of part of my tree. I love to turn on the tree lights late afternoon so people driving by on the their way home can see it through my window and be cheered by it.