As evidenced by the before/after picture above, and the fact that I didn't get out of bed until almost 11am, we had a few people over last night.

This gathering was way different than the hoedown blowouts of previous years. This year it snuck up on us too quickly, and I just couldn't get a huge party pulled together. A way smaller crowd, and it was nice. I wasn't as food prep-and-restock, so I could actually have full conversations with people. How novel! The biggest surprise of the night was a special guest appearance by The Todd (hey, JerseyCats.. move here right now, please.). We ate, drank, and were merry. My kitchen isn't TOO big a disaster this morning. A quick first glance shows that there will be much tossing, some liquor cabinet restocking, and not a lot of dishwashing. I call that a win.

Also,we now have approximately 746 cases of Grain Belt Nordeast floating around here, so maybe we have to throw another shindig in January to drink some of that.

Every once in a while a memory of the bad Christmas that I spent sad and alone creeps in. Now I want to give that sad-chele a big hug and tell her "See? It all turned out fine. You'll be happy again." I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
~Albert Einstein