Christmas Eve

T'is the night before Christmas
And all through the house
The only thing stirring
Is my keyboard and mouse...

Well, that's not exactly true. Jackie is in her half of the abode preparing a breakfast casserole and cursing her temporary disability. She can only stay down for so long before she has to charge around on her knee skateboard (or whatever you call it) and do stuff.  One week of being crippled up is about her limit... don't tell her she has a week and a half to go before she gets a boot she can walk on.

Phil, Wendy and the kids have been here two evenings making cookies and fudge; tonight they're at church and then at Wendy's Aunt Donna's until later, then they'll come here -- as will a number of other  folks (all four of Jackie's grandchildren and their parents)-- to spend the night. I don't know if the overflow will stay in my living room, but they're welcome to, since I inherited Jackie's couch with the double recliner a few months ago when she got new furniture.

We'll be up at the crack of dawn (about seven) if we can keep the kids down that long.  We usually manage to get up before they do, for some reason.  (When we were kids, we were always up first!)

I've ordered a bunch of used books (on writing and other subjects) -- wintertime causes me to become a bookworm, since I can't be outdoors much...

But the weather today was so warm at one point that I went outside with the pups and pulled up my pant legs and sweatshirt sleeves and soaked in some rays from the sunshine.  This is insane warm weather for this part of the hemisphere. I don't recall sunbathing on Christmas Eve before unless I was in California, Louisiana, Georgia or Florida!

I even saw a dozen or more robins yesterday, and at one point our back yard was filled with other birds.  And I've seen squirrels and woodpeckers. Unheard of, for this time of year, up here!

My Elance clients have gone silent until Monday, and all but two of them are completley wrapped up, so I'll check for and bid on more projects over the long weekend, but I'm taking Christmas off. Totally. Completely. Absolutely.

I hope you do, too. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ONE AND ALL!