Can you believe that there is only one more day before Christmas. Christmas Eve is TOMORROW.

We stayed home all day today. I was very disappointed. It IS Sunday and I hate missing Mass, but it was slippery out there and the wind was horrendous. Not a great place for a 67 year old woman on crutches.

My foot feels fine. I weathered the Clancy Legacy with no complications and have now begun exercising the foot as the doctor instructed. I am determined to travel to Texas without crutches.

I started doing the prep work for the Christmas Dinner. I figure a little at a time is the best way. Today I made the carrot salad and the bread. I did get a pain in my side this afternoon, probably because I am holding myself oddly when I do some things like cleaning the microwave.
We wonder how long it will take Chelsea to realize that I am back "on the job" when I am all healed. Today Dick took her out several times and Jim and Michelle kindly came over an took her for as much of a walk as their poor little bodies could stand. Chelsea with her long fur coat seems to think that EVERYBODY should be able to stay out as long as she does. HAH! She is wrong. But she did get some exercise anyway.

Remember the Christmas pageant with "Gold, Common Sense and Fur."

Here is another one the at my brother and sister in law, Jeff and Kathy sent to me. It think it is great.


Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the
holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial
entertainment songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer.

So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly
taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy
mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.

Those in the front row - center stage - held up large letters, one by
one, to spell out the title of the song.

As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the
letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding
up his portion had presented the complete message,

"Christmas Love."


The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a
small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down -
totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W".


The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's
mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall,
proudly holding her "W".


Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter
continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together.

A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant,
we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the
first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our
festivities.


For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:


"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

And so He was and so He is. We are almost to his birthday celebration. Let's give Him the gift of peace and love.

All my love

Mary