I Hope You Had Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Hi all,

A mere 10 days, it's looking up, hmm? Keep in mind that I spent at least 30 hours of that last week in play rehearsal. SO GLAD that it's OVER. Not that I didn't enjoy it, I mean, it did involve singing in public. To a crowd of over 200. And I messed up the first song, like I always did in practice. Anyhow, the show was still hailed as being a success and I really had a great time being in it. I would say I'm never doing one ever again, but it's a requirement/built into the seminar course thingy I'm doing.
However, I do have some good quotes stored up, and the first relates to something the four year old said when I came home from the first dress rehearsal/small performance crowd, with traces of my glittery "angel" makeup on me:

"Steph...whys you got...sprinkles on your face?"

Cute.

Another quote came from our Christmas day meal of Turkey. Hum asked Franklin where he wanted his gravy (potatoes, meat, veggies...) and he replied:

"On Top!"

Fair enough.

I went to the gas station and picked up tobacco for Hum, and was carded. The foreign cashier looked long and hard at my ID, and finally asked:

"Is Minnesota a part of the United States?"

Um, yup. Right next to N and S Dakota...Honestly, we are closer to Canada than MN currently, so I shouldn't be quite so surprised.

Last quote (other than the 1.5 year old adorableness, which involved her patting me on the knee and saying "What's wrong, Tephanie?" with the most earnest expression ever)

Maria seemingly discovered her leg hair...
Me: "Yup, we ALL have hair: arms, legs, heads...everywhere!"
Her: "...Like a gorilla, right?"

Pretty much, yeah.

Anyhow, I had a really nice Christmas. Gifts kept coming, which was a joy and slightly mortifying. I like to really put thought into my gifts, and I kept being surprised. It's much easier when you have a real budget to work with. Anyhow, I got LOTS of chocolate (yummmmm!), and some very practical gifts: I was honestly extremely happy to get 7 pairs of socks! I also got some beautiful things, including a wonderful pashmina from my parents, a salt lamp from the house parents and a gorgeous pair of earrings from my brother. I was pretty much thrilled with everything I got: my mother even sent my stocking, which was packed full with Sixlets and other goodies.

But Christmas really isn't about the presents, is it? Hum asked our newest villager how his first Christmas away from home was, and I asked Calvin about his, and then referenced mine. It was fine to be here, but had a little bit of an emotional disconnect. I really missed being with my family, the talking, teasing, games and tasty food. I suddenly really got the whole "I'll Be Home for Christmas" song, and the emotions behind it. It was my first Christmas away from family, and probably won't be my last. But I hope that they will be few and far between, because it's just not the same without them.

Hope all is well,
Steph