ho ho ho, and all that

i just had one of the most delightful evenings i can recally having had in a long, long while. we leave oxford to make the rounds to see the fams, so tomorrow is ellie's "home christmas." that meant that tonight is santa claus! renee' and i had so much fun setting up all her little santa stuff (note well the fabulous beanbag displayed so prominently to the right there). i always remember getting up on christmas morning to a room full of stuff santa had left whilst i slept, but i never knew just how much of a kick that "santa" and "mrs. claus" got from the whole gig. i feel more like a kid tonight than ellie does, i think! i know i'm more excited, even though she's been yelling "santa claus" and "merry christmas liiiiights" every time we drive down the bright and shiny (and quite wintry) oxford streets. if ells gets half as much joy out of her first 2 hours tomorrow as i got from my last 2 tonight, all will be well.

merry christmas to you all! thanks for being here during the first year of [rd]. i don't take any of you for granted, and i appreciate your readership. peace be with you.