So much to say...

My computer took it's final nosedive into the dark abyss. Yes, after finally giving in and trusting the damn thing - it died. It is now in a lonely box on it's way to Texas to hopefully be repaired or replaced (thank you extended warranty!!!) but I will be without a computer until sometime the beginning of January.

We have been having a blast here and although we are slightly disappointed that our first New England Christmas will be sans snow - we are definitely in the fa la la la la'ing mood here.

We are trying our best to resume our traditions of the past and not be too tied to our "old" way. We were unable to locate our stockings in our jam packed storage unit and so although disappointed we were able to find great temporary replacements. Julia and I were not able to see the Nutcracker as was our tradition of the last two years, but we cuddled on the couch and watched the BBC's presentation on TV. It was funny that by watching it in the comfort of our home, Julia was able to ask lots of questions and really understand the story. The other tradition we were sad to part with was our annual ride on the Polar Express. We were even able to find a substitute for this as I was reading our little local paper and found a train ride on the local narrow gauge railway around Casco Bay with a visit to see Santa. We all had a wonderful time and Anna, who is entranced by anything having to do with trains (a train set is what she asked for from Santa) was thrilled by being on a "real train." Of course the promise of cookies and hot chocolate was also enticing.

The presents are purchased but not wrapped and I am pretty sure I will be spending part of the afternoon in my room wrapping - along with some serious time tonight.

We ran our errands yesterday so that today we could just hang around and relax. It's a beautiful sunny and unseasonably warm day so we'll probably add a long walk on the beach to our Christmas Eve traditions. Tonight we'll have a dinner that consists of appetizers and then take a long walk on around the neighborhood to look at lights and the stars. Then we come back and don our Christmas jammies and watch Christmas movies. Then it will be time to place our stockings under the tree and leave cookies and milk for Santa and some carrots for his reindeer. We're tracking Santa on NORAD. Then we'll all go upstairs in cuddle in bed and read the Night Before Christmas - and then hopefully the kids will be able to sleep. Anna is certain she will be seeing reindeer and I hope she gets her wish.

So although we have moved and things are different some things will never change and for that, I'm happy.