It was a very Merry Christmas!

I hope your Christmas Day was as enjoyable as mine. It was a mixture of downtime, opening presents, eating great food and way too much of it, keeping the fire alive the entire day, reading, and observing the Fraley's as they went from the nicest family to one of fierce true competition in Phase 10. (The skip cards were being used as effectively as I have ever seen them played)

It was a great Christmas and yet I must admit that it was a hard one as well. I understand a little better what my wife went through last year as we celebrated Christmas with the Barlow's. It's not that you aren't happy, excited, and thrilled to be with your new family through the excitement of marriage, but you realize you aren't with the same people you previously celebrated Christmas with for the last 25 years.

I could hear a twinge of sadness when I talked with my parents and siblings and rightfully so, but from what I have gathered it sounds like they have had a wonderful Christmas as well. I would have loved to have taken a ride in my little sis's new car and helped my niece with play with the kitchen set she got from Santa Claus. (I would have had to have helped with the assembly of the kitchen and I am grateful that I was not involved in the 3 Am assembly shenanigans that Dad and J were going through.)

But this is a part of life and I would argue it is a good part of life. It is the part of life where people change, some traditions are either ingrained or uprooted all at once. Family members who have been stuck with one stereotype (mine Little Lord Fauntleroy, and I love it!!!) are given the chance to undo those thoughts and become different if they so choose.

Change is not always better. Change for the sake of change typically is not, but change embraced openly and looked at with the opportunity for better, especially when it is inevitable change, can be a time of growth and learning. It still doesn't mean it will be better, but it can still be very good in it's own respect. (I hate that society has made things have to be better or worse and always compared but I will pontificate about this at another time.)

I hope that is the case for my family, myself, and all those that I love this year in particular. That we look at the changes as they are coming (so swiftly now it seems) and dig our heals in for a few traditions and be willing to let a few of them go. That we let some of the stereotypes go as well except in happy memories and for a couple of laughs.

Christmas came again this year, Hallelujah! I am grateful more and more every year for Father (or Mother) God for sending his (or her) Son into the world for each of us. I am less worthy of the grace and more grateful to have it each year we celebrate the birth of Jesus. I just hope the wise men make it this year! I am pulling for em and will be on the lookout and hope you will too.

Merry Christmas!!!

Safe in Kentucky and almost frozen

When I left Hotlanta it was 45 and sunny. I was curious what the drop in temperature would be so I made sure to note the crisp feeling as I left Peach state wearing a T-shirt and flip-flops comfortably. Much to my liking we stopped only once on the 400 mile trip. (Since Sue and I have been dating it has been a humorous aspiration of mine to make a 400 mile trip, all of our family lives roughly 400 miles from Atlanta, MS, KY, FL (and FL is more like 350 with no good way to get there) without stopping once. Yesterday was our personal best and I hold out a glimmer of hope that we might actually make it within the next year or so without having to stop at all.)

At our one stop in TN I pulled out a jacket so I could pump the gas into the car without any discomfort. I noted the temperature had dropped to 30. Not too bad I thought to myself and figured the worst of the cold swing was over. As we hit the KY state line I began to worry a little, 25. I can count on my fingers the amount of times I have been in weather that is in the teens and all of a sudden it was becoming a pretty real reality that I might be spending Christmas in this type of weather. But this good ol' MS boy was panicking just yet. When we arrived at the Fraley household it was a bitter 15. 15!!! Oh boy am I in for it.

When I woke this morning it was coldest temperature my body had ever encountered, -11! Who lives like this? I have decided that I will be sitting in front of the television at a warm and cosy 75 watching football and sipping on sweet tea for most of my Christmas break. There is no way I am going to be out there in the elements freezing my extremities off. My body is use to 150 with humidity, not negative anything. I can actually feel the cold creeping in from the door which is a good 6 feet away from me. It is clawing its way past all the wonderfully heated air in the house and trying to suffocate the pleasantness right out of the house. It is unbelievable actually!

Well enough about the temperature, everything else is going wonderfully! I am truly blessed with my In laws. They have embraced me as a son and I will never be able to tell an In law joke with any integrity because they are the exact opposite of all of the stereotypes. Dinner last night was loads of fun with great food, wonderful stories and a whimpering Derby who wanted to be out of his crate and stealing food off of peoples plates so badly. It was a great start to the Christmas break. I hope everyone else has the opportunity that I am having this morning to relax, enjoy the many many blessings we have been given and be grateful for family and friends. I love Christmas so much. I love slowing down, listening to Christmas music, eating special meals, and most of all thinking about God and the mystery of his son being born. If nothing else I hope you stop and do that this Christmas.

I am going to put on some socks now because the cold that is clawing at the door seems to have won the victory over the good heat and laid claim to my toes as one of the prizes. Merry Merry Christmas!