In search of a plan

I have been wanting to write for a while, but dang it, life just keeps on getting in the way. But I've got a chance now, so I'm going for it.

The main purpose of this entry is simply to wish one and all a happy holiday season, whatever the holiday of your choosing is. May you enjoy it and may it bring you the happiness and peace that it should.

We're going to the Christmas Eve service at 10 p.m. tonight. It could be pretty cold when we get out again--it's supposed to dip to about -6F overnight. But that's just in keeping with the weather we have had lately. To condense it to so many words, this has been a brutal December over most of the U.S. Not only in terms of weather, either.

Today was also my birthday. The morning part was spent at the office, working on stories till noon, when it closed for the day. After lunch, I went out to the local football field, where I got pictures at the annual Xmas Eve Bowl, played between grads of the local high school. It was a fun game. They played for about two hours right on the varsity football field (buried under more than a foot of snow) in 20-degree weather.

Plans for the next few hours are very indefinite. I know we bought several bags of frozen ravioli last week--that's a favorite of both my older son and myself. My older son arrived back here last night about 8 p.m., driving up from the Detroit area and dealing with a lot of blowing snow along the way. He called me at the office Tuesday afternoon for an analysis of the weather still lying ahead of him. I was pleased to inform him that nearly all the bad stuff was now behind him.

Within two hours of his arrival, he managed to (A) hook up his laptop to my wireless router, (B) consume most of two pizzas (with our help), (C) made friends with the cats, (D) watched a couple Three Stooges films and then (E) went to his room to surf the net. The cats (two of whom--Charlie and Max--are spending their first Christmas with us) seemed confused--what's someone doing in that room? First time anyone has used that room since they joined the family.

The third cat, our 16-year-old cat, is named Maggie because of something she did with Phil long, long ago. When we first got Maggie, Phil would hold her in his lap, and she would suck on his T-shirt. The lightbulb ignited: In a moment of inspiration, I christened her Maggie, after the pacifier-sucking member of the Simpsons.

My friend, B, who lives in Alaska, told me that her two sons and a daughter-in-law all made it home safely--but not without some adversity. One of the sons lives in Portland, Ore., and she told me he had to walk 20 blocks--with his suitcase--to get to the train line that went to the Portland airport. About 10 inches of snow had shut down the city bus system. The other son and his wife came from New York City and had a long, long, long day at the airports. But they're home now, and that's what counts.

I hope B and her husband and the rest of their family have a happy holiday season. My friend S is having about 15 over for a nice Christmas dinner together, and I hope they have a happy time. And the same wish goes out to all of you, wherever you are, however you spend it.

As for us, we're going to visit my mom during the afternoon. Plans after that are highly indefinite. We'll come up with something. But sometimes just being together is enough.