There were way too many fun things about the past week to record them all.  Hopefully the same was true about your Christmas.  There were, however, a few highlights.  Enjoy.

1. On the drive from Norfolk to Blacksburg, houses along the road obligingly turned out an impressive number of Christmas lights.  It made driving in the dark totally worth it.  I’ve recently discovered that my taste in Christmas lights is decidedly white trash.  It’s not that I want to have that kind of lights display at my house.  I’m perfectly happy with tasteful options there, but I like looking at trashy displays.  They seem jollier somehow.  They’re less restrained, that’s for sure.
2. The Christmas Eve service we went to had everything I was hoping for–all the normal scriptures about Christ being born, Silent Night, and candles.  I’m pretty easy to please on Christmas Eve.
3. Santa came through in a big way with his annual letter response.  Not only did I get a reply to my email, it came through FedEx.  Santa is on top of things, people!  (Thanks, Dad.)
4. I was included in a snowball fight in which I blame my gloves for my poor performance.  Snow kept sticking to them and dissembling my carefully crafted snowballs.
5. Post-Christmas festivities included ice skating on a real pond.  I never actually expected that to happen in my life.  I even learned how to properly hold a hockey stick so that I don’t look like I’m trying to use a broom.  Sadly, the broom position still feels more natural.

   

6. I was informed that I would not be driving home on Sunday, since there was lots of snow all the way from Blacksburg to Norfolk.  It was kind of fun to be told not to go to work by a responsible adult.  Then work was canceled anyway, so said responsible adult led me to just the right choice.  Extra fun and festivities were had accordingly.
7. I consumed enough good food to last at least until February.  Some of it even came home with me in a cooler.

There were lots of other good things about the weekend, but I won’t bore you with a fifty-point list.  The main “good thing” wasn’t on the list because it kind of ran through all of those things.  A few months ago, I was planning to spend a quiet Christmas with my favorite canine friend.  Instead, I spent the weekend surrounded by people who love each other.  It was a happy change in plans.