Eve

Alex had a very good birthday. He got cupcakes again, and lots of presents.

He seemed to have figured out the whole opening-presents thing fairly well, which surprises me slightly. I think Penny was nearly three before she really got into it.

Anyway, Alex got three separate Elmo toys -- a huge one from my parents (that actually used to be Penny's, but she didn't really play with it much, so it went into the attic), a "baby" one (complete with pacifier and diaper) from Matt's dad, and a smaller regular Elmo from Matt's brother and his wife.

Alex glommed onto the little ones immediately, and doesn't want to put them down. He even tried to open the rest of his presents while keeping one of them tucked in his arm, which was adorable.

I'm at work today, but I honestly don't mind too much. There's nothing actually happening, which gives me time to clean up my desk and do paperwork and generally try to get into a good frame of mind for the coming year. And unless something surprises me by turning up, I'll be skipping out at lunchtime.

Tonight we're having my parents over for a simple Christmas Eve dinner of soup and sandwiches. (It would be the whole family, but Sam is working three separate Christmas Eve services for her church, and John opted to stay with her for dinner -- which I certainly can't blame him for.)

And tomorrow is Christmas, whoo! I'm really looking forward to it. Penny is so excited, she's already vibrating. (Note to self: remember to put her present from Santa in my trunk before I head home today!) Dinner will probably be at John and Sam's, as I'll be really surprised if the work being done at my parents' house is finished in time (those things never are -- I have no idea why my parents didn't put it off until after the holidays).

As far as I know, we don't have any particular plans for the weekend, though Matt had an email from our friend Chuck asking about when it might be a good time for us to all get together, so maybe we'll meet up with them. Other than that, my plan is: relax!

Celebrating Christmas or not, I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday weekend.