Xmas in Texmas
Cold today on Christmas Eve with big gusty winds. You just never know around here what the weather is going to be like this time of year. There are pictures of me as a kid washing and waxing my father's car on Christmas Day (my Xmas present to him) in shorts and a t-shirt because sometimes it's quite warm. But we are just as likely to have cold and nasty weather. Sometimes sleet, but never snow - at least not in all the years I've lived here. It did snow on Thanksgiving weekend one year when I was in high school and we all had high hopes for a white Christmas that year, but it didn't happen.

This year we had the usual Christmas Eve get-together with my folks, brother and his kids. The traditional dinner has changed up a bit - used to be just ham, but now there's brisket as well. Come to think of it, there's been brisket at both Christmas and Thanksgiving for quite a few years now. It's a fitting addition, not just because we live in Texas, but there's a family tradition of brisket cooked up by my uncles for the big extended family get-togethers that we no longer do over the holidays.

Now that we are all so much older, I've become the aunt and my niece and nephews have become the new extended family. In fact, we have a hard time all fitting in my parent's living room for the present unwrapping. As always, it's just a few simple gifts for each person; never been nothing fancy and certainly has never been about spending a lot of money. Just a bit of fun. No drama, no fighting, just good food and good fellowship. How it should be, I think.

P.S. Every year my mom gives me the best Christmas present ever - a batch of my favorite cookies that only she can make. And I know eventually there is going to be a Christmas when I do not get those cookies which makes them all the more precious. Warren Zevon once said, "Enjoy every sandwich." I plan to enjoy every cookie.