Again, Christmas in the desert surprised me.

First of all, it seems as cold as the Seattle I left a little tiny bit over 2 years ago. It has rained constantly all day.

In all actuality Seattle is under a foot of snow, has been for a week, and many are out of electricity. My wishes go out to them.

In fact, the big worry this week was whether or not my 18 year old son, living in Seattle, would be able to make it from his house to the airport for his Christmas Visit. Thank God for his friend’s Mom, Shannon, because apparently she was the only mobile driver in all of Seattle. She drove a good 10 miles when everyone else was stranded or stuck in their driveways, picked him up in the ice and snow, TOOK HIM TO GET HIS PAYCHECK… DEPOSIT IT AT THE BANK… And THEN delivered him safely to the airport door, an additional 5-10 miles away from her home.

THANK YOU SHANNON!!! You ROCK!

Then the worry was.would.the.plane.take.off? If so, on time? Would he get stuck at the airport like thousands of others did the two days prior?

Happy to say that his plane was only delayed 15 minutes and he arrived safely early on Tuesday evening.

US Airways was good to us.

It has been a year since I have seen him and I have been trying to absorb him ever since.

Tuesday night we went shopping for Spud, then yesterday, Spud and ‘Z’ took off to ’shop around’… Read; shop for me…

Christmas Eve dinner on Wednesday was going to be at a friends house… but then the venue changed… which was fine… but Spud and Z got hungry shopping and showed back up at the house around 7 with Burger King Cups… which made me a little suspicious… and of course they had eaten already… So we stayed home and I had my Turkey Lentil Soup that I had made a couple days before.

Today has been a perfect Christmas. Well, it would have been made better with more family, but as Christmas’s go… this one has been pretty damned good.

We went to sleep on Christmas Eve watching Man vs. Wild… which is always good in a gross, sort of creepy, Would.I.Ever.Do.That.To.Survive(?) kind of way.

Christmas morning we were all up by 10:00…I yawn, and stretch, (as I remember the 6:00 am wake-up call for years), and coffee was able to be had before presents.

The presents were everything I could ask for… I got a breadmaker… and while they have been around for a long time, I am a cook, not a baker, so was never too interested in bread… But Spud fell in love with one at ‘The Cousins’ house… and the description was so good that I had to have one.

Wow!

I have already made a very, very basic bread, and it was wonderful! Delicious… I can’t wait to try more recipes… and I actually could see myself having fresh, homemade bread for lunches on a weekly basis.

So here I sit. A perfect Christmas night, my son here.. and playing a video game for the 9th hour, Spud is asleep on the couch next to me, and I am communicating with you… the few, who know about my blog at this point.

Well, whomever you are, and however you got here… I hope you have or are having a Merry Christmas, Kwanza, or Winter Solstice… or whatever, and perhaps your Dradle is spinning like mad.

Shannon