Ho Ho Ho Humbug

I made it through another first. The first Jackson family Christmas shindig since Rick died was last Saturday at Angie and Ryan's house. The house was beautifully decorated and the tree was standing tall in the corner complete with ornaments and lights and a ton of presents under its branches for the children. The presents were ripped open with glee and paper and bows were flying through the air......that was all normal. What was not normal was being without our Santa. He was the man in the Bah Humbug Santa hat that handed out the presents in years past and watched with delight as his grandchildren destroyed the house as they opened all their gifts. I think that I was possibly in denial during the evening get together. Denial was much easier with Ricky and Beth and Bradley and Ella not there and Chad not being there either. It was easy enough for me to picture Ricky and his dad sitting at the restaurant throwing back a few beers before plunging into their Christmas Shopping! They were simply late and had forgotten the time and had asked Chad to join them. Yes, that made it easier somehow.
De NILE is not just the name of a river. Sometimes it is how we get through the day or week or season.

Mine was a short trip to Louisiana but I was fortunate enough to get to see my two granddaughters, Delaney and Madelyn, perform in a production of "Babes in Toyland" at the Young Actors Theatre in Slidell. They were so precious. On Sunday I got to enjoy the "Saints" football win with Jason, Mandy, Fe'de and Glen at Clay and Monique's house. The brats were great! Sunday night I spent with Keri and Chad and the boys and Jake. It is always fun for me to get to spend the night in the camper. Monday I went with Keri and Chad to check out their new property purchase in Central. Very Cool.

I got back home on Tuesday night and have unpacked, done laundry and tomorrow I will repack for the second phase of Christmas with family. I will drive to Arkansas on Saturday for our annual gift exchange and dinner with my mom and my cousins and aunt and uncle on Christmas Eve. I am not sure how long I will stay I can't really say I am excited about these holidays because they are painful but I am excited about seeing mom and my family. How long I stay depends on the weather since my expert driver is gone.

Someday I will learn how to insert pictures and music into my blogs and maybe then they won't seem so depressing. I am planning to learn a lot of new stuff in 2008. I now have a new laptop so that will inspire me ;-)

Love to all of you and your families during this Christmas Season!