1. The Christmas Eve candlelight service was lovely, rich, and meaningful. We had record attendance, and I got to stand with SamJam at the front of the church at the end during “Silent Night,” “Here I Am to Worship,” and “Joy to the World.” I only blubbered for one verse of “Here I Am to Worship,” so that felt like a triumph.

2. I’ve had an on-again, off-again head cold for the past 10 days, so I took a COVID test just to be sure. It was negative, which makes sense since I’ve had no fever, no respiratory distress, and no loss of smell or taste. More annoying is the burn on my arm that I got making 34 dozen Christmas cookies last week. I brushed up against the hot oven door while removing one of the trays. Oucha!

3. The out-of-town family is at our house for three days this week since my MIL is not able to travel anymore. The dining room has been overrun with homemade snacks that are way too good to resist, so the bottle of Tums is at the ready. Some can’t make it because of COVID protocols, which is a real downer again this year. ’Nuff said on that.

4. The snow is now falling here in Eastern PA, and it’s lovely to watch, especially against the backdrop of our massive holly tree. What a beautiful, peaceful sight—and I get to see the puffy white flakes floating down from the comfort of my new power recliner that I got for Christmas. What an incredible piece of furniture. Lots of writing will take place right here.

5. Periodic trips to my introvert happy place feature soft instrumental Christmas music alternated with two albums from my Enya repertoire (“And Winter Came” and “Dark Sky Island”). With life being so chaotic, thick, and over scheduled these days, I treasure these times of relaxation and reflection.

6. I’ll need to get back to grading and dissertating in the next day or two. And working off all these Christmas goodies. Goals are never accomplished by accident. 

I hope everyone gets to enjoy this “in between” week as the New Year approaches.