I called Mr. Renaissance. I felt him slipping away and I needed to know he still existed, was not in another woman's arms, and still knew my name. We chatted for about a half hour on Christmas Eve about the trappings of family gatherings, how he's feeling about leaving school, ran down the lists of presents we bought our nearest and dearest. I was disheartened actually... Not sorry I called, but I chafed a bit when he said it was "neighborly" of me to telephone.

It snowed. My mother wanted my sisters and I out of her hair last night so she sent us out in what turned into a blinding snow of fat flurries to watch a movie. Fortunately, we were okay. The movie idea was a bust, though. The theatre was not showing any film that had a start time after 7:30, so we had no options. Instead, we went over to T.G.I.Friday's and ate a lackluster meal. By the time we left the eatery the snow had let up. It was above freezing, so the slushy rain that was left behind did not harden, really. We slipped only a bit.

The Christmas Spirit was conspicuously absent from my life this year, but I'm not the only one who felt this way... My middle sibling kept remarking "It just doesn't even feel like Christmas to me; it's just weird... I don't know...." Anyway, we all opened our presents at midnight, and went to bed.

Crystal (the middle sibling) woke up to go to work at IHOP this morning and didn't get off until about 4. That was somewhat literary. Having to waitress at a pancake house on the day of the Lord's birth.

We did have a lovely dinner of standing rib roast, honey glazed ham, roast beef, and plenty of tasty accoutrements. My youngest sibling Caryl came home with me tonight after a crushing exchange with her almost boyfriend. She will go to work with me tomorrow, and we will part ways at a metro station after meeting a friend of mine for coffee.

So, I hope I get it right before New Year's Eve...