Sunday Post: 12/26/2021

Hello, my lovelies.

As I write this, it’s Christmas Eve. I’m sitting in my parents’ kitchen, watching my kid play video games, and my mom make a pie. There is a golden retriever begging for scraps, and Christmas music playing. It couldn’t be more Norman Rockwell if it tried. Well, if Norman Rockwell had video games.

There is so much sadness overlaying this holiday, though. I am glad to be celebrating with my (fully vaxxed and boosted) family, but there were a couple near misses this week that could have derailed the whole thing. My kid works in a restaurant, where several other employees have tested positive. The lovely roomie has seen outbreaks at her workplace and at the club where she curls in a league. And this morning, we found out that her sister tested positive, which has put the kibosh on their Christmas Eve plans tonight,

And if any one of those circumstances had gone differently, this would have been another year of zoom calls and no cranberry relish (which I am making tomorrow!)

More on my mind, though, is my friend David, who lost his lovely fiancée on Monday. He is surrounded by love, but as my grief therapist told me when my husband died suddenly, there is nothing that is going to make it any better, not for him, not for a very long time. And I think of their extended families, and the celebrations that have been blown up in the wake of this tragedy, and I hate that the world has made another widower. And I hate that Nancy is gone. She was overflowing with love and light, and especially now, those are things that are in short supply. Shorter now without her.

I read two books this week, and didn’t love either of them. I also probably started and tossed three or four more. See, I’m in the mood for some magic, Christmas magic specifically, and I am just not finding what I want. I want a sweet story, holiday—themed, with all the feels, and all the steam, and an actual, coherent narrative. Seems like way too much to ask, so I may move on to something else.

Both were meh, solid 2-star reads. I mean, they are exactly the books you think they are…but 15% less.

OK, that’s all from the Piper test kitchen, where it currently smells like pumpkin pie.

Till next week, stay safe, get boosted, and tell people that you love them. I get that it’s weird and scary, but just do it. You don’t know when you won’t be able to anymore.