Another Christmas has come and gone, and at the risk of offending half the civilized world, I am glad it's over. Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. I love the music, the lights, the decorations....I even grew to love my pathetic fake Christmas tree. What I don't love is the rampant commercialization of such a special day. I don't love it when my kids start whining that so-and-so has more gifts under his tree than they do. I don't love it when a company offers me free shipping on orders of $49 or more, then when I proceed to checkout, deny me the special offer because I have ordered toys (who in the world orders TOYS for Christmas???). I won't mention any names, but that company's initials are Amazon.com. I'm getting off the subject here, but you know what I mean. I don't like the "Oh, I didn't know she was going to get me a gift! I better make a mad dash to the store on Christmas Eve and get her something in return!" Sound familiar? I don't like it when people try to stamp out the true spirit of Christmas. Oh, and let's not leave out the 15 pounds of fudge I have eaten in the last 3 weeks. Forget fruitcake....chocolate candy is the gift that keeps on giving, and I have the skin-tight jeans to prove it.

We were very sad that Blake was unable to be here for Christmas, but we have so many amazing friends here, including our German neighbors, who stepped in to fill the gap. We started the week with a train trip to Neustadt, Germany for a Christmas market (check out our website for pics). In spite of the cold weather, we did some great shopping! On Christmas Eve, the kids and I delivered our own plates of homemade goodies to our neighbors and sang English Christmas carols. Then we enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner with several other women whose spouses are also deployed. After eating a huge meal fit for a king, we cracked open a few bottles of "gluwein" (google it). Hey, it's tradition; I can't mess with tradition. On Christmas day we ate yet another meal with a family from church who graciously opened their home to us, even though they've only known us a few short weeks. It wasn't easy to be apart from Blake. Before he left, I set out to "toughen" my skin. I knew this would be a difficult time, especially over the holidays. I knew the kids would be lost without their daddy on Christmas morning. (I knew I would be lost without him on Christmas Eve, having to play "Santa" and eat 6 chocolate chip cookies, 8 carrots, and drink a whole glass of chocolate milk!) But the lonliness we all felt was eased with the love and generosity of others. Now that is what I mean by the true spirit of Christmas. The love of Christ is something you can't giftwrap; you can't put a price tag on it. It's love that is given freely to those in need. Spirit of Christmas, indeed.