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December 24, 2007 :: Home for the Holidays

I'm coming to you all live from my dad's living room where the Christmas tree is beautifully illuminated with the miniature multi-colored light bulbs, the fire is in full blaze, and our traditional Christmas movie, "The Ref" (with Dennis Leary and Kevin Spacey) is playing on the big screen LCD TV. Today was the 3rd day of Christmas in our family which means my brothers and I arrived this morning and have been playing Parcheesi, eating amazing hors dourves, drinking ;-), and going in the hot tub all afternoon. What a way to pass the holiday :-D

Luckily this month hasn't included too much traveling other than a trip to Boston to have dinner with one of my three best friends, Craig; a trip to New Hampshire to visit my college buddies; and a couple trips home. Every year my friend Craig has a holiday dinner as his way of saying thanks to all of his friends for another excellent year on Earth. I've been blessed to be able to make it out every year even when I lived in Atlanta. I usually would drive out from Albany, stay a couple hours for dinner, and drive back...but this year I took the train directly from Connecticut which saved me a lot of driving. The party was excellent and the feast Craig (et al) prepared was amazing! It's always a pleasure to see Craig, his sister Holly, and the Boston crew. It also makes me happy to see Craig feeling well, looking well, and happily sharing the experience with his partner. I have a lot of love for him.

My friend Matty O moved out to NH shortly after we all graduated from college and has been having an annual holiday party at his condo for the past four years. Unfortunately this was only the second time I was able to go, but on the bright side, I was able to go! Our former band of misfits, the Spades Group (named after the card game... :) drove out on Sat the 8th. We all had a spectacular time at the soirée and headed back out on our separate ways after having brunch on Sun. In true New England fashion, I had lobster for breakfast :-D Talk about très chique. I look forward to these annual events to be able to catch up with my friends, especially now that graduation day is steadily speeding away from us faster and faster into the depths of the past. For a couple nights a year it's like nothing has changed except for the stories we share and the boyfriends/girlfriends that we share them with. Hopefully one day even that last part will stop changing... :-)

The next week, on Fri the 14th, I went back home to Albany to participate in Mama's 4th Annual Christmas Show at the WaterWorks Pub. Mama has been hosting a show there the week before Christmas since the last time I lived in CT and again, luckily, I've been able to participate as a back up dancer every time. Haha, yeah you read that last part right, a back up dancer :-P It's so much fun to go out there and dance on the stage during his numbers. It gets the audience engaged and gives me a chance to feel like hot stuff in front of a crowd. LOL!

Now the holidays are in full swing, it's Christmas Eve, and I've been spending the past several days with all of my family members. This is one of the rare times during the year that we alll get together to enjoy each other's company and regroup to prepare for a new year. Tonight we went around a circle and said what we're all thankful for from 2007. It got a little emotional, but the tears that came out were good, warm, family tears. The best kind.

Tomorrow we're off to mom's house to spend the Christmas holiday with that side of our clan. Last night we spent it with our immediate family on her side and tomorrow we'll get to see the extended families. It's madness really...a very busy couple of days...but I can't think of a better way to spend them. Before long it'll be New Year 2008 and then back to the regular rhythm of work and the daily grind. Cherish the now...that's what I've learned.

Cheers and Happy Holidays!

M@
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