So this is Christmas???

Dare I say that this year, Christmas at the Dees house will come and go without incident or fan fair.  Nick and I SO all about the holidays... Mass at our church, decorating the tree, the tradition (usually including some smoked meats and the original "Home Alone" movie), the baking and cooking!  But last night as I looked around my (now relatively empty) house at the boxes and stacks of personal items waiting to be packed, I got really sad.  Though we do have a tree - it would be sacrilegious not too! - we don't have any of the other things that make us feel like it's really the holidays.  All our serving pieces are in boxes, our decor stored away for transport.  We're not going home to see our families, and they're not able to come see us... nor would anyone really want to considering the state of our dining room as a storage unit for packed boxes!  But as I sulked around the house looking for some holiday cheer, I realized that by this time next year, we'll be settled into our new home back in Birmingham, and hopefully readying the house for visitors.  In hindsight, I came to realize that IS my Christmas blessing this year... that we don't have to spend another Christmas away from our loved ones because we'll once again be close enough to travel to and from without missing anything.  And our wonderful friends in Birmingham are all going to be around to celebrate with as well.  We've been married over 4 years, and I've only broken out my monogrammed china 3 or 4 times.  I can't WAIT to have family and friends over again... to celebrate or just spend some time having a fun dinner.  Only 3 more weeks!!!!