Our wonderful cruise is now safely tucked away in our memory and now must get back to normal.  We are both still fighting off this awful cold.  Neither of us have had a cold in at least ten years but this year we have a doozy.  Norman is almost over his but still coughs some by afternoon.  I cough all night but once I get up in the morning it seems to clear up and except for no voice I am good most of the day until evening again.  If I don’t talk much I am much better so Norman gets some much needed rest from having to listen to me talk. Our normal life is to stay pretty much to ourselves so for most of the year we only leave the house to get groceries, most of our shopping is done on line (Love Amazon) so we are not in with people to catch the normal bugs that are around all the time .  I am sure that is why when we went on our cruise with over 6000 people on the ship I think we were luck to only get a common cold.   Now it is time to get Christmas organized.  Norman and I host Christmas Eve for any in the family that can come.  We hold the party at Patty’s house as our place is too tiny to seat more than four people to the table.  It looks like we will have 14 adults and Becca’s three little ones.  Celina, Alec, and Mali are coming in from California on Christmas Morning so we will leave the party open all Christmas Day so they can join in on the fun.  We will call Joe and Holly on face time as well as Shanti so we can at least wish them a Merry Christmas in Washington State and New Mexico.  I love face time it is the next best thing to being there.  I got most of my Christmas gift shopping done last week and have just one sweater left to finish and that part of my Christmas will be ready.  All other presents are wrapped and ready.  We have to keep the gift giving down as the family has gotten so big and we are on a fixed income now so have to be creative when it comes to expensive items.  This week I will make hundreds of cookies.  I got the boxes ordered and my freezers are ready for the cookies.  Then on Christmas Eve I make up the boxes and that is what the men and boys get plus a few of the girls who would rather have those than the dish clothes I make.  I mailed out the “Three Little Pigs” book and crocheted pigs and wolf for our great grand children in OK.  And the sweaters for the great grand daughters in California. The Amazon boxes are on the way.  Once I get the baking done I have the last week to get the food and make that up for Christmas Eve.  This year it will be Cornish Game hens and rolled chicken breast with sour cream, cream cheese and raspberry jam.  Shrimp, and all the trimmings.  We have a buffet style dinner and start with the chips, dips and vegetable tray before and during the tree and dinner right after.  Our Christmas party starts about 2pm and lasts until 7 or 8 when some of us sneak off to rest. The tree or present opening is a very organized tradition or it always was.  Last year we let the little ones play Santa and it got too hectic to enjoy so this year I will be Santa again.  That means  one present goes out at a time, we wait for that person to open their present so everyone get to see their present opened and know if they did a good job finding a good, reasonable  present for each person and are sure the right person got the present.  Finding the right present is only half of the fun of giving a present.  Seeing the person open it makes it worth the extra effort needed to get just the right things.  Christmas is my time of year.  I have always said if I die after Christmas you will know I died happy, but don’t take me just before Christmas, please.  I would not be ready to go.   Have a great day.