Today is Friday and It's Almost Christmas

I got to leave work early today. It wasn't raining when I left, but it's been raining for hours now. If the temperatures weren't unseasonably warm, we'd be having a blizzard. I'm not keen on getting drenched in December, but it sure is easier to walk through, and it doesn't require shoveling. I think I'll just be grateful, because I won't need to clear a path to my car in the morning or brush the snow off my car... unless the temperature really flash freezes. Ah, the joys and surprises of living in through winters in upstate New York. Anything is normal and no one really knows what to expect from one to to another.

Somewhere in Minnesota is a family I will be missing this Christmas. A quirky five year old with a silly sense of humor, his sweet, sweet momma, his fun loving father (once my own small son), and a brand new baby boy. I'm trying not to let the want take over the impossible. I can't be there right now, and they can't be here. I have to be okay with that, but I can still miss them. And I do. I hope they know how much I love them.

I stole a couple photographs from Facebook... :0)

I am not ready for Christmas. I haven't been stressed over preparations. I shopped here and there throughout the year and have a stockpile of bowls from my time at the pottery studio, but family relationships are strained. I was asked if there was "anything beautiful that you wish your kids will buy for you for Christmas?" but the truth is, I only want to find my kids all in one place and happy. I know it's a lot to ask, but that is my only wish, even if it's only my area kids. Perhaps deep down that is the wish of every Mom of Many.

Tomorrow I will meet my friend Laura for breakfast, and maybe I'll check out the mall before Christmas is over. I havne't been there yet this year. And maybe I'll go back to the pottery studio, glaze another music box, and start putting the next ones together. Who knows? Maybe by this time next year I'll have a whole collection of those.