Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Newton’s Birthday!
Happy Holidays to you, too.
We are pretty much just relaxing at home and doing nothing this year. (In January we have a trip home to see family.) It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to do nothing. It’s the greatest Christmas present ever.
Let’s see…yesterday I braved the madding crowds at Target and although the place was packed, I noticed the same thing I noticed a few days previously at Wal-Mart: a whole lot of people being courteous to each other. Also, a stranger pointed out a short line for me at the cashier.
All my shopping is done!
When I got home I had a Christmas card from Auntie Pam.
When we walked the dog last night, it was decently warm and we checked out all the neighborhood Christmas lights.
I nailed both the kids and my mom in our traditional race to say “Merry Christmas Eve” first today. Then I called my grandma and let her get me.
I listened to Christmas music on the way to work of my own free will, even that hippo song.
This morning we had good news about a co-worker who’s been out on family sick leave for a long time.
We are fortified with enough chocolate to make us all puke and no work is taking place.
The Spirit…I has it!
Happy Solstice!
Now, I’ve got to think of one for people who aren’t Christian, Jewish, or pagan, who hate math and/or physics, and who don’t care about the changing seasons… Note, I did not specify WHICH solstice, so the Southern Hemisphere folks are covered, too.
We’ve been lighting Hanukkah candles and giving each other gifts. Mr. Neville was so happy when I gave him Fallout 3 
I also got him the new edition of How to Cook Everything, which he loves (and which we recommend highly for anyone who likes to cook or doesn’t know how to cook but wants to learn how to shop for ingredients and cook them).
This weekend, we’re going to visit my parents in Maryland. My sister, brother-in-law and nieces, ages 2.5 and 10 months, will be there, and it will be nice to see them. My Christmas present for my family (remember, I converted to Judaism) will be a dinner at a local restaurant that we all like (and where Mr. Neville and I can get vegetarian food- they have yummy eggplant parmesan, which is even appropriate for Hanukkah because it’s fried).
We’re going to take a menorah and some wooden dreidels I got at Target with us, so my nieces can see what Hanukkah is like (or at least enjoy the candles and the tops). That is, if I can find the dreidels. The Neville kitties have the holiday spirit, too, and they like to attack the dreidels and drag them to the Secret Kitty Lair under the loveseat.