Merry Christmas and goodbye tooth

The kids are at Jim's, and it is just Maddie and me for Christmas, which I used to celebrate when there were children and a husband in the house, but which is no longer for me.

I am glad to be rid of all the hoopla, but which parent who has had young children in the house can forget the excitement and fun?

I amused myself last night by checking in with the Norad Santa Tracker,  watching Santa's journey around the world and keeping an eye on the digital counter showing how many gifts he had left. Last time I looked, he was over Warsaw, Poland. This morning I checked in again and saw that, his journey completed, he had delivered 7,060,919,100 gifts.

Next I made blueberry pancakes and watched "A Christmas Story," which gets better every time.

I'm going to walk Maddie and then see "American Hustle," and after that, bring home Chinese food to have with the kids. This time last year, I was eating Chinese food in Barcelona with Katie. We were surprised to find an excellent restaurant. We got there around 9 and thought nobody was coming, but then, it being Spain, diners started to file in until the place was filled.

Dec. 25 was my parents' anniversary. They got married then because, after the Christmas rush, it was a good day for my mother to close her jewelry store. My mother loved to tell the story of how she wanted to spend their wedding night at the Plaza, but my father insisted they stay across the street from Penn Station at a hotel with a tunnel connecting to the station. He was afraid that otherwise, the impending winter storm would keep them from catching the train to their honeymoon in Florida. As it turned out, the blizzard of 1947 roared in and they rolled out. She said that after that, father always knew best.

Moving on to another topic, I had the troublesome tooth #3 pulled on Monday. It still hurts a lot, but that is to be expected after an extraction. I am following my Dana-Farber doctor's guidelines on how much oxycodone I can take, and it is quite a bit. Yesterday I thought it was getting because I didn't take anything all afternoon or at night. That is a good sign, but today it kills again. I hope that with all the medication in me, I don't fall asleep at the movies.

New and old friends brighten day

Maddie met a new friend, Theo, a Golden Retriever.

Theo wants to show who's boss.

Carolyn tries to get the dogs to focus.

Last night my kids were at their father's for a Christmas Eve sleepover into Christmas Day. After my first round of illness, we all did Hanukkah and Christmas here, but it didn't work out very long, so we went our separate ways again. Last year I was in the hospital, so that didn't count.

I knew I would miss the kids, so it was nice that my friend Korby invited me over for Christmas Eve. It was a little far, about 45 minutes, but I'm glad I went. I joined Korby and husband Pete and family and friends for a wonderful smorgasboard. (I'm still eating the dessert that she sent home with me.) The fire was warm and the company, mostly her relatives who feel like family, was very comfortable to spend time with.

When I got home, the house was dark and quiet. I went to sleep pretty soon after but woke up several times with this odd feeling: the house was quiet. It was as though it was not breathing. I tried to remember what was wrong, and then I realized it was that I was alone.

I guess I will deal with this again when Katie goes to college next year (waaaaaah, don't want to think about it) and the house will be strangely quiet for a long time. But anyway, I got up this morning ready to do something.

I put Maddie in the car and met Barry in Springfield at our friends Carolyn and Chip's house to meet their new Golden Retriever, Theo, who is about four months and an adorable bundle of fur. We ate bagels and drank coffee and playied "watch the dogs," a game similar to "watch the babies," where you just sit and move your eyes around trying to keep track of "the kids." Two of the Chipkins' three lovely daughters, Laura and Deb, were there and joined in the puppy focus group. A lot of people, including me, can do this for a long time.

Then Barry and I walked Maddie around the neighborhood's Forest Park. It has an annual event, Bright Nights, that routes traffic through 2.5 miles of the park decorated with lights arranged into shapes on a variety of themes. Part of it is Dr. Seuss characters, because the characters' creator, Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss), lived in the neighborhood.

It was interesting to walk under the unlit lights early in the afternoon. We let Maddie run around. She met two Springer Spaniels and we had an interesting discussion with the owner. Then we went back to say good-bye to Carolyn, Chip and Theo.

I headed home and did a few things. I was kind of waiting for the kids to get back. I wanted to cap the day with a traditional Jewish meal – Chinese food on Christmas – but I didn't know if they'd eaten. They came in a couple of hours later and yes, they did want Chinese food.

The house woke up. A couple of hours later, Joe ordered it and got it. We ate it while watching "A Christmas Story." Gotta love that movie.

We got it all in. Food, family, friends, Christian traditions, Jewish traditions. Wrapping paper still on the floor, presents and serving pieces still to put away, and candy and leftover desserts on countertops and tables. Makes it still look festive. I think everyone likes it like that...for a few days, anyway.