Tom and Amy have moved in officially and I haven't had to cook a single meal since. What a luxury. There are boxes and dogs and stuff everywhere but things are getting settled and we'll soon reach a new normal. It is nice having them here.

We decorated the tree last night, a theme tree for the first time, all red and gold just to have something different than previous Christmases. It turned out pretty nice, I think. Here are a few pictures. Please remember, gentle readers, I am still not a photographer, that much has not changed in the last year.

Tom and Amy gave me a set of little pig ornaments made of straw at the Finnish store. They are pretty cute. We added silk poinsettias in red and gold to fill it out.

Connor found the family stockings I made which were lost somewhere in the basement for a year thanks to my soon-to-be ex's filing system. He was the hero of the hour.

Most all the shopping is finished (thank you, Amazon.com) except for the stocking stuffers and some freshly roasted coffee beans for Marietta. There are even gifts wrapped! (That's kind of sick, I know.) The last thing to do is order a crown roast for Christmas dinner from the butcher. Guess I should do that pretty soon.

I'm really looking forward to having most of the kids home for the holiday but we'll be missing Connor. He will fly to Juneau to be with his Dad. At 16, visitation is still an issue. That's OK, we'll have our own celebration when he gets back. But, it will be strange and different, like many things have been in the last year.

Of course, the Diva will be with us. This may make for delicate and stressful family bonding since she already provoked most of the kids at Thanksgiving. Fortunately, she doesn't like to be gone from her apartment or her cat for very long. We can put up with most anything for a few hours. The Diva also intends to give up driving after the first of the year. This means taking her to the grocery store, the doctor, and anywhere else she wants to go. Looking forward to that...

I don't have to travel again until just after the New Year and the annual vacation is approaching. The decision is do I finish clearing out the clutter or do I quilt? I think I'll end up splitting the difference. I do miss my sewing machine.