Christmas Eve: Tick, Tick, Tick ...

Who gets hathead at 8 a.m.? Hint: me.

OK, so now the Santa wait begins. It's rainy and warmish in Virginia and it feels like neither Wednesday, nor Christmas eve, but I see by the calendar on the lower right of my screen that it is both and computers don't lie.

Most of the gift-giving/getting is done and the visits have been full, rich and overflowing with calories. I have spent a pretty good bit of time in front of the stove, baking, cooking soups and stews and closing my eyes at the frightening number of calories staring me in the face. I didn't eat the baked goods because of the dang diabetes, but the soups and stews? Yep. Ate them and invited others to share.

This is the part of Christmas I like best: the anticipation, preparation and sharing of moments. It's like trout fishing, I suspect. I have, for example, finished Christmas shopping 11 times since August. Promised not to buy another thing.

This year, the Pampettes (Oz and Maddie, my grandkids) are spending their first yule in Spain and my only visit with them will come via FaceTime tomorrow. It will be morning my time, afternoon--and well past the excitement of pre-dawn--for them. I love seeing those little faces in the fullness of the moment, though I'm not especially taken with the overwhelming amount of goods we foist upon our children these days. But that's for another time. Right now, I think I'll just enjoy it.