Post-Christmas Thoughts

So, it's been quite a while since I posted last...perhaps no one is reading this, but that is fine. We are in the middle of our first snowstorm of the season, and Abby and Ken are napping, as is the dog! I will briefly update y'all on our lives...
Ken got a p/t job with Horton Hospital and is currently doing Orientation shifts while being on vacation from Big Blue. His last EMS shift will be New Year's Eve. Abby is almost done with her first semester of her junior year, with an English Regents on Jan. 11th, her SATs on the 22nd, and her All-County Concert on the 28th& 29th. She is currently reading Uncle Tom's Cabin for her AP US History course and studying for the above tests. I have off from Religious Ed classes for a week, and after the disastrous Christmas Party classes, am looking forward to the change. I have some serious thinking to do re: my 7th graders, who seem disinterested and rowdy. Oh, well...that is what prayer is for!
Advent was nice, with our church doing an Advent Penance Service and, later that week, a Lessons and Carols night. I also went to an Advent Prayer mini-retreat with fellow catechists. That, plus morning mass at least twice a week, got me into the spirit of the season! And, as I get older, I find that Christmas is no longer my #1 holiday...I am beginning to think Easter is. Sure, I love snow and winter and cookies and the tree and all that, but the shopping and stress is now getting to me as I approach my late 50s. I don't have grandkids yet, so that may also contribute to my inclination to see Christmas as a quieter time, one that I should spend more in being with others, doing for others, than in consuming! I am actually looking forward to Lent...and the rhythm of the seasons.
Abby got tons of stuff, and seems happy. Ken and I got new LR furniture in September, so we just got each other small items (robe for me, new office phone for him). I miss seeing Maggie this year...first time since 2005 she hasn't been home. And that year, she flew in on the 27th, as Theresa had died on the 26th. It was also nice having Aaron last year...he ate a ton of my cookies and kept Abby busy with games and such!
Kate and Tracy came down Christmas Eve day, and we had dinner early (Ken had to work). It was nice, as we haven't had them for Christmas Eve in years! They left after breakfast the next day...Doug also came up on the 24th and left early this morn, before the snow started to fly. We all enjoyed Taboo and Abby's new Pictionary for the WII.
As we end another decade, I hope for peace...in my family, in the country, in the world. And that you all find the same in your lives!