Merry Christmas!

I am not anticipating blogging much the rest of today or tomorrow, so I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas this morning.  I can hardly believe that Christmas eve is already here but I am ready to spend some time with my kids and enjoy a nice dinner together.  Oh, and I LOVE watching them open their gifts.  Even at 17 and 21, it's still a thrill for me to see.  And, now, I have one more kid to add to the mix with my daughter's fiancee.  So, I want to enjoy every second.  My sister's family will come over for dessert and to open their gifts and since my kids are older, it's even more fun watching her kids open their gifts.  Holidays have a dysfunctional feel about them when it comes to family for us it seems, so I appreciate and treasure those moments of normalcy that come.

I am missing my Grandma even more this year, but at the same time, I feel her so close to me so often that I am comforted more than sad.  Last year the pain was so fresh, so raw that I spent a lot of time crying.  But this year, I find I am smiling at her memory and not shedding nearly as many tears.  I know she wouldn't want me sad.

So, my vegetable lasagna is already made for tonight's dinner, and all I have to add is a salad, and I need to come up with a dessert for tonight.  I was thinking bread pudding but we've been making salad with homemade croutons so often that I have very little days old bread in the house.  I could use the loaf I just made yesterday, I suppose, but then again, I am headed into town to pick up a cable box, and I might stop quickly into market and see if there are any tasty treats I could buy to use and free up some time.  After all, we do need to hit the trails this afternoon, since I napped and rested up a bit yesterday and we didn't make it out there.  Never fear though, my running streak is still alive thanks to the trusty treadmill and a quick mile while dinner cooked.  If you're counting, this is day 33 and I have 6 more official days to run to complete Runner's World Holiday Streak challenge.  Except our New Year's day run, puts me at 40 days total.  Whew.  I think after that, I will take off maybe 3 days?  I'm not sure yet, I guess I'll see how I feel.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas everyone!!