The Daily Life of Sweetpea[s]

For us this year, Christmas involved driving to Louisiana to pick up my 95-year-old grandmother and drive her to my parents to be with us all for a few days. This year, it also included my grandmother falling and breaking her hip only a few hours after we arrived at my parents. It involved both of my parents being up all night at the hospital before Christmas Eve. It involved my grandmother having surgery on Christmas Eve itself, and my crazy mother still whipping up a delicious prime rib Christmas Eve dinner for us, despite the fact that she hadn't slept in 24 hours. Late Christmas Eve was spent in the hospital with Meemaw. (And let me tell you, hospitals are lonely places on Christmas Eve. You know the few people you see there must have a really serious issue.) On Christmas Eve, I also suspect I had an early miscarriage.

*sigh*

Christmas also included many lovely things. Christmas parties with church friends and school friends. Pizza and wine with dear girlfriends (pics.) Dinner and a movie with dear brothers and sisters-in-law. Time with extended family. Listening to the Vienna Boys Choir sing "Once in David's Royal City." Beating my husband twice! at Scrabble in one night. Managing to avoid the after-Christmas shopping craziness altogether. A Christmas Eve homily from the pope that really struck a chord (more on that later.) Time to read. Time to pray.

This year, Christmas in Texas was a little slice of life--beautiful and fun and crazy and painful and busy and restful.