Christmas was very nice. I had Christmas Eve with the kids, we had a very nice time. I had gotten a haircut for the holiday, and my 10-yr old daughter just kept petting my head! They all made me cards - for Christmas my daughter gave me 10 hugs, 5 kisses, 2 smiles, and a wink. My other daughter wrote me a poem. It was all very sweet. I asked them about this - they said their mother asked them to make cards for me. That's a nice gesture.
I spoiled them all with presents of course. All too soon I had to take them back to their mother. Everybody seemed pleased.
Christmas morning I woke early, by myself. You know, being alone in the house used to be really hard, in the beginning, but I am getting better at it. It's lonely, sometimes, but it's ok. One day I will have a companion again. Not sure who it will be! Maybe a dog! (I hear they are very loyal) But for now I am alone and that's ok.
The snow was falling again in the darkness - it was so beautiful. Like a gift, really. It was so quiet - the quiet you can only get with a heavy snowfall. When it rains, the world makes a certain sound. And when it is clear, the sounds from far away (wind, cars, whatever) carry a long way. But when there is a heavy snow coming down, all the sounds are muffled. It's like the whole world is a giant soundproof room. The powder snow was so gorgeous. A blanket on everything. I think we got 6 more inches.
Early in the morning, my 12-yr old called me, it was great to hear from him. They had just finished opening presents. He just wanted to wish me a Merry Christmas. He is growing up too fast, but he'll be ok. He's a good kid.
Mid-morning I went to visit the family of a friend. I am of mixed-emotions about that. They are a very nice family, and very kind to me. Very close. But it is still hard to be with them, when I would give anything to be with my own kids. Ah. Nothing to be done about that.
So I made the best of it! And I'll tell you, it was a really nice day. I spent lots of time playing with their kids - they have 2 young ones - a girl of 5 and a boy just 2 years old. The boy is my buddy. I got him a set of blocks for Christmas, and we spent a long time building towers. Well, I was the one building towers, and he had a blast knocking them down.
It seemed every time I sat down he would come over and crawl into my lap. Around lunch time he got down from his high chair, walked over to me, and climbed up onto me, just to snooze. He is the sweetest boy.
The mother's parents we in. So we all had a family Christmas day - exchanging gifts, playing games, eating cookies, shoveling snow, sharing some Christmas cheer with the neighbors. For dinner, a big roast turkey. We laughed a lot. The parents seem to really like me. It was all very warm. It is exactly the way Christmas used to be, in my house. I am very lucky to have such friends.
I have the kids this weekend. We're going to play with all our new toys! And maybe make a giant snowman. We have 20 inches of snow on the ground here.
