Thank you for the gift of patience.

To my readers who are still here, "Thank you for your patience." I think I am finally ready to make a comeback here. (I know, I've said that several times in the last few weeks.)

It seems the busy holiday season, some quirky twists in my normal daily routine and an inability to go 'round the clock without sleep and still be productive (a recent development in my old age!), caused some things to simply drop by the wayside. Blogging was a good ways down on the priority list. Here's to hoping I'm now back on track and back in control of my time. I've really missed our daily chats!

We're lucky to have a full and loving circle of family and friends with whom we gather throughout the holiday season. At this point we're still in the midst of those get-togethers and I'm loving every minute of them. I'm sad to have missed a few due to scheduling conflicts but I haven't quite accomplished being in two places at once yet.

There's still a small pile of presents yet to be dispensed but we hope to see those folks within the next week or two. We used to have a big family party on Christmas Eve but it became harder and harder for those with young children to squeeze that one into their busy schedules so we moved it to the weekend after Christmas for several years. Gradually, it slid into January and has now settled into the mid-January time slot and the size of the event has also gotten smaller. It now seems to serve the purpose of a wrap-up party to the season and those last few gifts finally slide into the hands of their recipients. So, we'll still be Christmas-oriented for a little while longer.

Don't get me wrong. We do see most of the family multiple times throughout the season including our "Round Robin Trek" on Christmas Day! We generally make 5 stops, beginning at about 9:30 a.m. and we don't get home until at least 10 p.m., covering about 140 miles round-trip! We've talked about cutting back on this but who could we eliminate?

Ultimately, we, personally, would miss it. The rushed journey has become tradition and it just wouldn't be Christmas without it! After all, isn't it the traditions we all look forward to?

I hope your holiday was filled with fun, laughter, love and lots of hugs. I hope you spent time with those who matter most in your life and I hope you celebrated those time-worn traditions that make your family's celebration unique!!