Did I mention it's cold.

-3 degrees.

I got up early this morning to take my Sister and Brother-in-Law to the airport and I *almost* jumped in one of their suitcases.

They're flying back to San Diego. Of all the cruel, cruel places they could be going.

Grumble, grumble.

I know two people who biffed it bad just yesterday on the ice and snow. One took a trip to the ER and the other will be sore for many days.

On my way home from the airport, as I was entering our neighborhood, I saw a blind woman walking down the street, presumably to the bus stop. She climbed over the snow berm into the street and crossed the slick ice, back over another berm and down the icy sidewalk.

She was smiling and singing.

Lesson 101 at 6:00am today:

Count your blessings, name them one by one. Thank the One who gives you those blessings.

And then maybe you will smile.

Even if your teeth are chattering.

Hellooooooooooo out theeeeeeeeeeere...

Under threats of disowning, I hereby re-enter blog land.

For at least a day.

It feels good just sitting here staring at a blank screen. I'm warming up my writing juices. They're frozen from under-use.

And, we DO live in Minnesota, so they freeze more quickly up here.

Speaking of Minnesota, you know I can't go a whole blog post without talking about how flippin' freezin' cold it is. It snowed 6 inches today, and tomorrow it's supposed to be blowing around at about freeway speed.

We have family from San Diego coming in a few days.

Muwahahaha. Snicker snicker.

So. It's Christmas time. Time for some holiday cheer.

I have a confession. I think Santa is creepy.

Call me a fuddydud.

But, we celebrate Jesus' birth on Christmas, and what more amazing fabulous thing is there for us to be celebrating? And Santa has a way of upstaging Jesus at His very own birthday celebration. That bugs me. Really bugs me.

So, last year, I was all about telling my kids that Santa's just a pretend man. They never thought he was real, so we never dashed their hopes. Case closed.

Case closed, right?

Fast forward 12 months to yesterday. Out of the clear blue, Corene brings a clay snowman up to me and says, "I'm going to give this to Santa".

(Rembmber, this child isn't one of those story-teller types. She's my black and white child. She doesn't do imaginary pretending unless she's saying, "Let's pretend ___fill in the blank___". She's serious about this.)

Me: Really? How?

Corene: I am going to put it on a plate by the fireplace next to his cookie (!!!!!!) and put a sign that says, 'For Santa'.

Me: Huh. (thinking... do I dash the imagination? Or do I let this go on?)

Me: We used to put out cookies and milk for Santa when I was a kid.

Corene: (Eyes LIGHTING up) REALLY? Cookies and MILK? Can WE do that, TOO? Does Santa LIKE milk?"

Me: I don't know. I think it was always gone on Christmas morning.

Corene: (Thinking....) But, Mom... what if Santa's allergic to milk??

Me: (Laughing) Should we give him some of your soy milk, just in case?

Corene: But he drank your milk when you were a kid.

Me: Yes, I guess he did.

Corene: So I think it's ok. Let's give him some regular milk.

Me: (Big sigh) OK. That sounds good. (Gulp) I think he'll like that.

Corene: (Big, big, beautiful smile) Me too.

Well, my big conviction of no Santa just went kaplooee. Right down the drain. Something about her sweet belief in something just so utterly unbelievable (reindeer on the roof, and a rather large man coming down the chimney?) warmed my heart and made me smile. I just couldn't spoil the fun.

But, Christmas day? It's a birthday party for Jesus. Birthday cake and all.

How do you make the day about Jesus?