Lookout, the Holiday are coming!

It is still warm enough to swim in my pool and yet here comes Christmas. What a wonderfully warm October and November in Las Vegas we have enjoyed. I fear it is a sign of global climate change and desperately hope not to experience the same 10 or more, above normal temperature degrees during the summer of 2009. Hm, I wonder what our planet would now have looked like after 8 years of a President Al Gore?

Our turkey feast prepared by my stepson Billy and his lovely wife Bridgette was an exceptionally delightful culinary extravaganza. The gauntlet has been passed to the expertise of the two of them. His culinary skills combined with her welcoming gestures are a dynamic force that has no rival.

Ready or not, this weekend I will have my husband assist in dragging out all of the Christmas decorations. I love to decorate the tree and make one of a kind centerpieces for my tables. This years dilemma is exactly where to place the tree? The backyard make over will be blocked from view if we cover the french doors from the formal area as in years past. In the blink of an eye it will be 2009 and the sad ritualistic task of repacking the tree, lights and decorations will be upon us.

In spite of all the Thanksgiving and Christmas joy I cannot help but to think of my dearly departed mother and father. Such is the stuff of Holiday nostalgia. My mom has been gone for 8 short years and yet I miss her more now in many surprising ways. It comes out of nowhere, the ache for her presence at special moments. She would so get a charge out of her great grandsons. The night Obama won the election made me wish my dad had lived to experience the pride I know he would have felt. We have come so far in my life time. There is much in which to be thankful.