This past weekend was full of friends and family. Because its the weekend before Christmas, there were parties to attend and deliveries to be made and all in all I am tired today. But then, the best part of the holidays is time with friends and family so I'm not complaining!
Friday night we attended a retirement party for a friend whom I've known since Kindergarten - maybe before - but Kindergarten is where my first memories begin. It's hard to believe that I'm old enough to have friends who are retiring, but there it is, impossible to deny. She and her husband are planning to spend their winters in Florida so in some ways this was a farewell party, although they will be coming back here in the spring. The first "snowbirds" of my generation. Wow.
Saturday night we spent with a couple dozen friends - eating, drinking, and laughing together until the earliest hours of Sunday morning. It was a boisterous, joyful, fun night with people I truly like and reminded me somewhat of an updated version of the holiday parties we see on various movie versions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Warm and happy times, simply celebrating life.
Sunday morning was the Christmas pagaent at church - always a highlight of the season - and then Sunday lunch at my neice's house. Spending time with my extended family is the most gratifying of all the holiday madness because it grounds me and causes me to focus on the heart of the season. Later Sunday afternoon we attended an Open House, again with friends, and again we enjoyed touching base with so many people and having the opportunity to wish them all a Merry Christmas.
Throughout all this weekend the weather was abysmal. Friday night it snowed and sleeted, Saturday it rained and sleeted, Sunday it rained and made a slippery, slushy mess of every walkway and road. But somehow I didn't mind it a bit. Because going out into the nasty weather is a small price to pay for being with the people I love.
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