Why, yes, I am still alive thankyouverymuch. It's been almost 4 weeks now and the tail end of the pneumonia bout is still kicking my ass, but it gets a bit better every day. I was worried there for a while though...it was really rough going all last week...felt like I was drowning. I can now take the occasional really deep breath without causing a severe coughing fit, so I know I'm healing alright.

We had our Yule ritual on Monday evening. It was absolutely wonderful! We started out with our gift exchange and everyone was quite happy with what they received. Isla had drawn my name and gifted me with a lovely Egyptian tambourine...it sounds so beautiful.

Saoirse is in charge of rituals this month and had planned a very fun activity for us. Dusty cut some Yule logs from the trimmings of one of their trees, then cut out four holes in the top of each one. Saoirse brought ribbons, greenery, poinsettias, pine cones and 10 inch taper candles which we used to decorate and personalize our logs.

From left to right in front - mine, Isla's, Aurora's
Tristan and Saoirse are holding theirs up behind ours

This fun was followed by our feast...major yumminess! Saoirse brought a baked chicken and stuffing dish, I made stroganoff, Isla brought diced pineapple (so sweet!), and Aurora made a birthday cake (her toddler's idea since we're celebrating God's rebirth at Yule). The frosting is chocolate to celebrate the long, dark night with yellow cake on the inside to symbolize the rising of the Solstice sun. And Dad donated two tortes - one was dark chocolate and mint, the other milk chocolate. Quite a scrumptious feast!

Jo's long lawsuit battle is now completely over...she received her payout check on Monday and it cleared yesterday. Woohoo!! All over with...major sigh of relief here. We're gonna have a big family dinner at a great steak place sometime next week to celebrate.

That's about it for things around here. I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and a very safe and happy New Year celebration.

Ciao.

Mood: still sick, but mood is improving these days

To do: get some sleep