Mission Accomplished...

 As quiet, and somewhat sad, as Christmas Eve was this year.... we did it.  

My family back home gathered in the house I grew up in, in very small numbers (there were only 5), safely, distanced, and enjoyed the traditional foods.  

My brother and sister sat on opposite sides of the fireplace where my dad read "The Night Before Christmas" to us as children, and they finished the evening with cognac.

My brother's son has been instrumental in getting the house in order...cleaned like it hasn't been cleaned in years, and my brother got a real tree, and put it in the place where my parents first put a tree when they bought the house in the early 1950s.

Here, in OKC, I, too, prepared the foods (my brother sent us a "petite" version of the usual huge pig leg ham). I listened to Handel's "Messiah," and enjoyed cognac with Dave as we listened to Pavarotti before bed.

Our Zoom session with our friends was very nice, and helped me to not feel quite so isolated, and Dave played Rita's guitar for her.

On Christmas Day, Dave and I went to a state park for a hike, despite the return of my leg tendon pain.

We got our wish, and there was no one else on the trail, and it was so warm and sunny that we had to take our hoodies off.

Meanwhile, back home in Chicagoland, Christmas Day was like the Arctic, and my sister's plan to be able to see her children had to be changed.

She had wanted them to gather outside, around the little metal firepot, but it proved to be far too cold for that...

They were able to have the kids over, everyone in masks, and at a distance, for a short visit.  

Elsa cooked a feast, and they brought containers and thermoses with them, so that they could collect their portions, and take them home (her kids both have to work in environments where they may become exposed to the virus at any time, so everyone needed to stay masked and distant).

It was different for sure, but we did it.  I guess Christmas finds a way, even for we who follow the safety guidelines, and want to protect one another, and ourselves, from the virus.

Yesterday, on the anniversary of my mom's death (she died some time in deep of the night on Christmas), we took down all of the decorations and put them away.  It's been my practice to do this out of respect for her, even though SHE always insisted that everything stay up until 12th night.

Then, miracle of miracles, my brother's package arrived on his front porch yesterday, still showing as lost by the post office.  I am glad he got it...but the one he sent to me is still at the post office in Wheaton, where he dropped it off December 16th. 

Most of the other packages we were expecting finally came between Yule and Christmas Eve, so that was nice, too. I was pleased that Dave's gifts arrived in time.

I will see my doc this coming week, so will get labs drawn on Monday, after work.  I intend to ask the doc if there are any alternatives to what we are doing that is causing me so much pain, and if we need to change anything else, since we are now seeing new bone issues after 6 years of no changes at all in the bones.

It's the last week of a very difficult year.  I hope it passes smoothly for all of us.