Merry Christmas!

Of course we didn’t decorate this year–unless you count stacks and stacks of brown cardboard boxes and a big pile of documents to be shredded festive?–but I do have three new ornaments that can’t be put away because all the Christmas bins are in storage. They include my yearly purchase of a sleigh bell, a holiday tradition since 1992.

There’s a little dog house ornament that served as my name tag on a gift I received at a party the rescue’s board members gave for the staff and our spouses/significant others. I not only work for amazing people, I have the thrill of feeling like I’m part of the solution to Houston’s homeless pet population–and I get to hang out every week with some of the best co-workers, volunteers, and donors any group could ask for. What a “job!”

And finally, that Snoopy dog house ornament is PERFECT. It was a closing day gift from our realtor George, who found our house and helped negotiate its purchase–and tucked inside it was a note letting us know he made a substantial donation to the rescue group in honor of our new home. If you ever need a Houston realtor, let me know. George not only found the home that is perfect for us, he became someone we enjoyed getting to know along the way.

I have plenty more to blog about over the next few days, so watch this space. Thank all of you for reading, for commenting, for writing your own blogs and journals or FB posts and Tweets that I enjoy so much, and for making this another memorable year. Even with some losses, it’s been one of my favorite thirty-fifth years.

Now I need to finish decorating Tom’s birthday cake–happy birthday to my favorite Christmas kid!