December 25

So, choosing a photo to represent a Maryland Christmas is a virtual impossibility for me for numerous reasons. For one, we run all over the place so a single image can't possibly represent the entire day. For another, I routinely take something like 200 pictures so whittling it down to one is... yeah, impossible. So instead of making myself crazy(/ier) I try to cobble together a representative collage that more or less tells the story. And here is the 2019 attempt:

This year's story began at grandma's house, where we opened presents and dined on cinnamon rolls. We packed up and headed over to Bobby and Reaya's house at 11 and spent time hanging out with them and the kids and my brother Charlie, who arrived yesterday evening. After my mom and Harvey arrived, we all enjoyed a yummy brunch put together by Reaya before opening a first batch of presents and then hitting the road --again-- to see dad's side of the family at dad and Lisa's new house. After more eating and chit-chatting with aunts and uncles and cousins (and dad and Lisa, of course), we turned around and went back to Bobby's, where we finished opening presents and then, at long last, returned to grandma's for the night.

Busy? Definitely. Insanely busy? Perhaps. But it gives us a chance to connect --if only briefly-- with relatives we rarely see, so it's worth the day of insanity. So for that craziness and for the blessing of having people to visit while we're here and particularly for that baby born so long ago who made this day one of celebration, I'm so, so grateful.