mapsedge | Yes, there are creatures stirring...

The mice have wisely all gone to bed.

Yes, it's Christmas eve, and yes, I'm online posting to my journal. It's okay though: my presence here is not without its purpose.

You see, I'm guarding the path between Katie's bedroom and the family room, where

mljm is putting together the presents from Santa: a Thomas the Tank Engine roundhouse, and a Fisher Price Little People Garage. My job, should Katie awaken and come to investigate whether or not Santa has come, is to prevent her from discovering that the cookies left out for Santa have already been eaten (or put away) and the milk left out for the aforementioned Jolly Old Elf has been drunk, and that the stockings hung from the quilt rack with care are already full. That she will wander sleepily out is extremely unlikely as she went to bed with a dose of a narcotic-laced cough medicine (a regular prescription from her pediatrician, lest you think us cruel), but better safe than sorry.

In my time here, I have cut up an entire loaf of bread into tiny cubes that will serve as the body for the cranberry/pecan stuffing for tomorrow's dinner; I have updated the Seamlyne site with the newest inventory; checked the weather; checked the news. Now, in the hopes that starting something significant will trigger an interruption - hopefully something of the going-to-bed kind - I am here.

The under-the-tree presents have already been opened, stockings will be in the morning. It was a fairly lean Christmas, but much appreciated. The best thing for me personally was a t-shirt with the slogan "DAD...builder of dreams", with "DAD" spelled out in tools. Kitchy, sure, but the underlying message is significant in our family. For Michelle, it's hard to say, though I know I hit a homerun with a gorgeous (and large) bird feeder, copper and glass, with a solar powered light inside: by day a feeder, by night a pretty cool looking lantern.

M's parents cashed in some very very old stock and gifted us with a check large enough to cover our 4Q income tax, a gift which left us both speechless both for the size of the check and for what cashing in that stock meant to them. A real blessing there that will save us IRS penalties and interest, in addition to freeing up that much of our regular income for daily life.

Next year, I would very much like to buy toys for our children that require no assembly the night before. I'm ready...indeed, have been ready...to go to bed for quite a while. I'm ready for some sugarplum visions of my own, and while I could probably get them from some of K's cough medicine, a pillow would suffice admirably. Of course, I want M to go to bed too...I still need to fill her stocking...