Where do I start?

There is so much to write about these days, and I have tons of stuff floating around in my brain. I think, though, for now, I will start with frivolity and share pictures.

As Ken said in his blog, we are done with traveling for the year! Yay!!! But we just got back from a trip to Philly to celebrate the Bar Mitzva of his little cousin. This trip meant a lot of big things, including me meeting his dad's extended family. This will be a blog posting all its own. But I thought I would share a picture of us with Ken's sister and her husband.

When we got home last night, I was so excited. not only were we celebrating the end of a long weekend and the end of traveling for the year, but we were able to just relax in our home -- which is all decorated for the holidays, both of them. We really are an interesting mix in our home.

The menorah is out and sitting pretty in its wintry setting. But it will be put away at the end of this week. It is beautiful to look at, though, then it is all light up.

Last year I started Ken with his nativity set and the three colorful fellows on the end. This year, for Hanukkah, I gave him the Three Wise Men that go with his set. It is actually looking quite lovely, if I do say so myself.
The tree is simple but I like it. Lots of snowflakes and wintry delights. There are a few religious ornaments that Ken has gotten from his mom over the years, but other than that, it is a pretty sedate tree. It just makes the room so happy for me to be in!

Oh! Did I mention, no more traveling this year?

A New Tradition

I have decided that since the new commercial holiday tradition seems to be advertising and selling Christmas effective November 1, I will take advantage of this fact and start some interesting conversations. In my search for holiday gifts -- yes, I am nearly done with my holiday shopping -- I stumbled upon a great set of holiday icebreakers cards. Interesting stuff. You will all now be my guinea pigs :-)

Icebreaker for the day: If you could give any gift to one person, what would it be and who would you give it to?

That is a tough one - I am waffling between giving my friend Teri the gift of a stress and anxiety-free weekend full of SLEEP, giving my Dad a year of rent for his home and office, or, giving Ken a set of season tickets to the Oakland A's with hotel and travel accommodations for every game. ( I thought about tickets to the Bills, but realized that means lots of snow -- he hates snow)

PS: Just in case you forgot we still have our joint blog where we talk about the ups and downs of married life and how we are growing as a family -- together.