With every Christmas card I write ...

Love this time of year. Lots of deliveries (Internet shopping!!) and mail. And amongst the plethora of flyers, newspapers and bills piled high on the kitchen table are the gems -- Christmas cards! There are those from special people close by and then there are those annual communications from friends and family from far away, those who use this opportunity to fill you in on all of the news of the past year. Today I came home to three -- one from a high school friend that included a family update letter, one from my aunt who lives out of town and one from a lady who was a close friend of my mother and father who lives up north, and remembers me every Christmas. They join the ever growing display on the kitchen buffet. Ahhh. Love it!

Isn't that what Christmas is all about -- our relationships. Reaching out for that connection, gently fanning the spark on brittle kindling to coax a flame. Tonight I am sending out my own communications, or at least writing them. I am thumbing through my address book to build my list and putting the final touches on my family Christmas letter. With any luck I'll have 30 cards to drop into the mail tomorrow (or at least Wednesday). Sowing seeds! The harvest is love.

I suppose I am fortunate to have 30 people in my life I want to reach out to. (Note to self to not take that for granted). Tomorrow my dad and stepmom migrate back from the south for two weeks of Christmas cheer and a healthy dose of winter. Kidlet and I dropped by their house to turn the heat up and stock some essentials. The pieces of the Christmas puzzle are coming together and I can't wait! No coal in the sock for me. I've been a good girl and I just know my Christmas wish is going to come true. It already is ...