Another Christmas has come and gone. The gifts were a hit, the food was fabulous, and I’m wishing I had one more day off to relax!

Cyd and I are still in the hovel, praying for a better place in this ridiculous housing market. We keep telling ourselves that THIS year is the year we will find our dream house. I tell myself, as I clean up the torn wrapping paper and pine needles, that next year will be just as good for that sort of thing.

In spite of our bad habits and our mercurial tempers we are happy, for the most part, dancing that dance of mother and daughter that is mostly loving, often frustrating, and wholly indispensable. I just wish she’d clean her room before the sight of it grates so hard on my nerves. On that subject, though, my friend Colleen will be coming over to help me sort out this horrid mess. From there I hope we maintain some semblance of orderliness. It’s only 800 square feet but it requires a regular maid service — I’m just not capable of keeping up with everything any longer.

I’ve got New Year’s Eve off this year (huzzah) and am debating whether to purchase some subtle fireworks for Cyd. She has a website that we need to work on, I think that might be the better venture. We’ll see.

I wish you all a happy and blessed end to 2005 and hope your 2006 is prosperous and filled with things that make you smile.

PS — Photos of Cyd’s 2005 holiday are uploaded to Flickr!