Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Holiday Wishes for Everyone

Hope that there was some joy and delight in everyone's holiday, no matter what you're celebrating.

The last couple of days have been crazy busy, but here is what I did for Christmas:

• Finished the shopping Thursday; finished the tree Friday evening (I always put my tree up late, but this was very late even for me), gave the house a "lick and a promise*" to use one of my mother's old sayings, made Sk8tr Boy clean his room (which was a major undertaking, believe me)
• Four services at church: three yesterday (4pm with pageant, 6pm and 11pm, one today at 10am at which I preached)
• Wrapped and then opened presents--they stay wrapped for such a short period of time I sometimes wonder if it's worth it.
• Talked on the phone with Lovely Daughter #1 in Korea, Lovely Daughter #2 in Nothern New England, my mother (less than pleasant conversation but that's for another post) and left message for Soccer Coach Son who is spending Christmas with a new girlfriend.
• Went to see King Kong this afternoon in lieu of cooking dinner--we had planned to cook a mini-feast (it's just Sk8tr Boy and me as the older kids are all elsewhere for Christmas) but I was so tired I couldn't muster much enthusiasm for the project, so we opted to go out for a movie and then have salad for dinner. Sk8tr Boy loved King Kong--he had seen the original version in his animation class in school, but found this version to be far superior. Too much violence for me, I hate to say. Maybe I'm weird, but I just can't take too much fighting/shooting/etc. so I sit with my hand over my face wincing at the sounds. And it makes me a bit queasy to see someone standing on top of the Empire State Building.

Tomorrow is a bonus day off; I have to work Tuesday and Wednesday and write a sermon for next Sunday, but it will be a light week barring any unforseen emergencies. And next week I am off all week--a week that will be culminated by my ordination to the priesthood on January 7!

*a lick of cleaning and a promise of more