A More Cheerful Post

Yesterday's melancholy post deserves a rebuttal today. There are good things about the holidays, certainly, and reasons to look forward to them. Here, then, are my favorite parts of the holiday season:

• Two of the kids are in their school bands, and the bands are very, very good. The holiday concerts are wonderful and celebratory, and it's nice to gather afterwards with the families at a reception.
• Christmas cookies: I do go overboard baking many different kinds, because I will only do it this one time of the year. We all have our favorites, and look forward to those as well as any new ones I might try.
• Family games nights...we love our board games (Scrabble, Yahtzee, Monopoly) and the competition is fierce. Really, what's better than being couped up in the dark, cold winter with no where to go and the family gathered around the table? I know I will cherish memories of these times, thankful the kids still liked us enough to want to hang with us.
• Celebrations of lights...tree lightings, religious/shrines lit up with walking trails through the displays.
• Extended family gatherings, even though sometimes they can be stressful!
• After dark sledding in the yard...we have spotlights out the back and a safe steep incline. Okay, I'll admit it....I do insist on helmets.
• A fire in the fireplace.

Amazing what a good night's sleep will do for my perspective on the season.