Well, I hardly qualify as a blogger anymore, since it’s been so long since I’ve wandered over to my own blog and looked around. I have to say, it’s pretty dusty and abandoned-looking around here, and there’s no place to sit. So I’ll just move all these things over THERE…and push this over HERE.

Now then. Happy New Year.

We had a wonderful Christmas, filled with 11 people staying in our surprisingly tiny house (a house that seemed to contract over the several days). As happens when you get 11 people together over a few days in the winter, many of them will be teething, while others will be coughing, sneezing and running fevers at various times. I have learned that when we are all expecting to get together that I must raid the local pharmacy in advance and stock up on as many pharmaceuticals as the U.S. government will currently let me sign for.

However, despite all, we laughed and cooked and did Wii bowling, and we all agreed that it was probably our best Christmas ever, even though nearly everything that could happen did happen, including the television set simply exploding. Which made quite a few of us fall over laughing for reasons we still cannot explain.

I did learn a few things over Christmas:

  • Five year olds are way better at Wii bowling than you will ever be. (Charlie reached the pro level while I was still proud if I broke 100.)
  • Lobsters make a fine Christmas dinner. No, a spectacular Christmas dinner. There is no need for turkey to come into the picture at all if you have enough lobsters.
  • Sudafed PE is not the same as regular Sudafed and actually DOES NOT WORK AT ALL.
  • Two 19-month-olds, liberated from their high chairs while the rest of the family finishes gorging on lobsters, can empty the lower half of a Christmas tree in thirty seconds.
  • Ornaments being thrown down a hallway make a satisfying crunching sound that makes babies laugh.
  • If your TV explodes, it’s good if it happens when the landfill is open because there is a special place there for horrifying electronic disasters.
  • “The Night Before Christmas” is still a riveting read.

 

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  • I wish all of you a wonderful new year, and I want to thank you for coming to visit me on my blog and for leaving comments and writing me emails and for reading my books and telling me about your lives. Your words and your encouragement have meant the world to me this year. And here’s to a better, more hopeful and optimistic 2009!