Making Holiday Plans

We have started making holiday plans. For Halloween, we will take the boys to a place that has indoor "trick-or-treating". I don't know too much about it, except that Randy and Cheryl take Cheryl's grandson there. They invited us to join them. That will be fun for Bubba.

We invited Randy and Cheryl and their families over for Thanksgiving. If they don't come to our house, we were also invited over there! So either way, we will probably be spending Thanksgiving with them. If they were to come to our house we would have twelve people here, including the four of us. I would love to have them over here so I can share with them my family's favorite Thanksgiving tradition: eating dessert first! That way, we are not too full to enjoy our pies, and after our tummies settle after dinner....we break out the pies again!!

I know that, whatever we do, we will have a great day. But, even now, I am having a hard time thinking about the holiday season coming up, and making plans that don't involve my family. I have always been able to celebrate with my family. It will be so different this year. I hope that I can be a hospitable hostess or a gracious guest despite how I might feel.

I haven't even begun to feel Christmasy yet...and for those who know me well, know how unusual that is for me. Although I hold off until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas, I usually start listening to Christmas music by the beginning of September at the latest (it's been as early as the middle of July before.) But this year, I just don't have it in my heart yet. I know I have been singing the choir Christmas program, but as I have said before, it is more a Christmas worship program than traditional Christmas songs.

One thing I will miss about being with home, is playing Christmas duets on the piano with my mom. There's only a couple that we do, and every year we have to "re-learn" the pieces, but we have so much fun. We usually end up laughing so hard we can hardly play, and I wouldn't call the "Hallelujah Chorus" a funny song (except when we play it!) I'll also miss sitting around the piano singing with my brother and sisters. We are such a musical family, we have all been singing since we were young children. Since my husband doesn't sing, I will have no one to sing with this year.

At least we'll have a white Christmas! And New Year, and Valentine's Day, and St. Patrick's Day, and possibly Easter and Mother's Day as well.