This is the time of year when there is ALWAYS something to do. My life is busy enough, but layering in parties, presents, decorations and other holiday celebration items ratchets up life to a whole new level. Seriously, I think we all should campaign for Santa. I mean he gets all the credit, though I have NEVER seen him wrap a box around these parts. And did HE go shopping this week? The way I see it, he sits in a chair in the mall convincing children he has it all under control. Ha, I want that job.

One of my pet peeves over the holidays --- strings of holiday lights that do not work. We have had a number of holiday gatherings at our office space, thus in addition to my “famous” turquoise tree in my office, I wanted to place white lights around greens on the bookshelves in the larger area. I brought in a large plastic container of lights from our attic that I have stored through the years, certain that I had more than enough to do the job. I was so sadly wrong. Going through TWENTY sets of lights, I found ONE that worked three quarters of the way. Luckily, it was one of the long strings so I could use it.

The holidays are here, and, is it just me or did December seem to come faster this year? My lists have lists, but I am vowing to remember what this season is about and focus on that. It's been a hectic year, and thus I look forward to the third week in December when our family heads down to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. We've been doing this for five years now. There's a lovely church we go to on Christmas Eve where there is a lovely candlelit service and we immediately feel part of the community there. I love this time when we just hang out, read, watch movies and play games. The beach has always been a wonderful reflex place for me, and it's going to be terrific to be there. We have been renting the same house for a few years, and the owners asked me to write a piece for them about how we celebrate there for the local newspaper. That piece has been fun to write as it brings up a number of wonderful memories. The holidays are great for that!

This was one eventful week. I kicked it off literally with HBO’s airing of The 25th Anniversary of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. I tuned in expecting another ho-hum music event and was more than pleasantly surprised to see a show with great --- and unexpected --- pairings for the performances. It was four hours of fabulous rock and roll, and I confess I was dancing around the family room with the surround sound cranked up. I saw it as a brilliant way to exercise off the Turkey Eat-athon.