Santa-san came!
Never made it to Mass last night. I had intended to go but, I could not stay awake after 11. So, with a heavy heart-because believe it or not I really wanted to go-I trudged off to bed. The S.O. stayed up for a while to watch NHK. (Which is what I think put me to sleep in the first place!).
This morning though, an interesting thing happened while we were still in bed. ( Get your minds out of the gutter!). The S.O. began humming a Christmas carol. She does not know the words by heart to most of them, so I joined in and together we sang. And sang. And sang. Silent Night. Jingle Bells. O Come all ye faithful. And my personal favorite, Angels we have heard on high. Her voice is beautiful-mine not so much. But it was fun. With a quick but firm, rebuff to my other advances-we got up and started the day.
Gift giving worked out Ok. She only cringed at one gift-the bright sweater I bought her. I surprised her with one gift-I got her an IPOD. Now I will be spending the afternoon trying to set up an I-tunes library for her and making dinner. The conversation will be all in Japanese since the guests we invited are Nihonjin so my poor brain is going to get a work out.
Merry Christmas!
Hope it is all you want it to be. By the way, what is your favorite Christmas carol? Here is mine (You can leave your answers in the comments):
It does this heart good to read this post, as your previous post had me quite concerned as to whether or not you would be able to find some Joy this Christmas Day.
There is light in the darkness, Skippy-San, for Christ was born this Day, your Mother and son are both on the mend, you are not spending this Day alone, and you are still in Japan.
May all of God’s Blessings of Peace, Joy, Love, and Good Health be yours this Day and always.
P.S. From now on, I shall be using this pseudo-nym.
Picking a favorite carol is tough. I love Sting’s version of “Gabriel’s Song.” Handel’s “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” always picks me up. “Here We Come a’Wassailing” reminds me that the over-use of ETOH is not a new thing in our culture. But “Oh Come Emanuel” is prolly my favorite. If only because it makes so many assumptions.
Merry Christmas, Skip.
Skippy:
Warmest wishes for this Christmas season and a safe and prosperous year to follow. And my favorite carol? So many out there, but I’ll add my vote vote to that Advent stalwart, Venite Immanuel – for the Promise fulfilled and what remains to come.
– SJS