Good Monday morning...

And Merry Christmas Eve!

I had a dream last night. In that dream, I awoke without the aid of an alarm clock Christmas Eve morning and my house was totally clean. Wrapped gifts were under the tree and the smell of fresh wassail was drifting throughout the house.

It was a dream, and I'm pretty sure it will continue to be a dream unless I start doing a better job prior to CHRISTMAS EVE in the years to come!

In reality, I am (for the most part) finished with the Christmas shopping. I've done a lot of wrapping. I'm going to get everyone over 5'8" to help get the house where it needs to be today. (Yes. Roxie is now 5'8". I measured her in her sleep last night... because I had nothing better to do!)

To be totally honest, I've never made wassail, so if I woke up smelling it in the kitchen, that would mean someone had broken in and miraculously found ingredients to put some wassail on the stove.

Which would be a little creepy, but nice and thoughtful at the same time.

All in all, I'm in pretty good shape.

RANDOMNESS #1 - Our Christmas Eve tradition of going to the Candle and Carol service at our church and eating Chinese Chicken after the service has changed this year.

And as much as change usually bothers me, this is a very, very special occasion.

Mr. and Mrs. Faulkner are celebrating their 60th Anniversary this evening with all of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in attendance.

I'm proud my kids get to see this celebration. They were present at the 50th Anniversary, too, but they'll definitely remember tonight.

I'm 51 years-old and I've never celebrated a 60th Anniversary Celebration with anyone in my family... so you might say it's a once-in-a-lifetime event for some people.

And I can't think of a better gift for Mike's Mom and Dad to give my kids than the living, breathing example of a long-lasting Christian marriage.

RANDOMNESS #2 - We had our Christmas celebration with Mike's family this past Saturday.

Matthew and Lauren were in fine form, and after eating, opening gifts and playing a game or two, some of us settled down for a long winter's nap... and some of us just went back in the kitchen to graze some more.

This is Grandma's tree.

This is Austin sitting on the hearth... waiting to open presents. (Some things never change.)

This is Roxie sitting in Grandma's green chair and matching it perfectly.

This is Josh bonding with Lauren. She loves to be lifted high in the air, and Josh has the arms for it!

Matthew is our Santa Clause. He really gets into it. This year, we added a new tradition. Santa has to pass out presents wearing the AUBURN/WAR EAGLE Santa Hat. It's a good thing.

Roxie had a "jewelry" kind of day which was great. She likes big earrings and Aunt Becky provided some very pretty pairs. (I'm just hoping she'll let me borrow them sooner than later.)

Roxie and Grandpa were inseparable during the gift exchange... which is another good thing.

RANDOMNESS #3 - Roxie and I are heading out for our annual Christmas Eve mani/pedi in just a little while. I am counting the minutes until I am sitting in the massage chair.

I really should have asked for one of those for a Christmas gift, but I fear/know I would NEVER, EVER get out of it.

RANDOMNESS #4 - The Boy came through for me last night. I wanted an Eggnog Pound Cake delivered to a friend in a fun way, so I asked Josh and Austin to do a little Christmas "Ding, Dong, Ditch."

Austin really got into the spirit and actually wore the Elf hat. Josh agreed to change out of his pajama pants and put on jeans... and drive the get-away truck.

I guess at 21 and 19, that's all a Mom can hope for!

It was a successful delivery, by the way!

Actually, it is probably good no one saw Austin delivering the pound cake. He's a little scary lookin', isn't he?

I think his name shall be "Slightly Deranged Elf!"

Have a safe and wonderful Christmas Eve. (I may see some of you in my travels today.) For your sake, I hope not. I hope you're living my dream!

Take care, and I'll talk to you bright and early Friday morning!

Sincerely,

The Enchanting and Incredibly Merry Belinda