Joe and I are having a wonderful Christmas. We're staying indoors, watching t.v., and relaxing. I love being with him. We don't even have to be doing the same thing. Just being together is wonderful.

We had our Christmas a few nights ago, really. The gift-exchange part, anyway. He got me several really cool things, such as comedy CDs and DVDs (yay for David Cross and Lewis Black!), two Ted Leo albums, some They Might Be Giants stuff, a really cool book about Buddha, and some books on London. I have to look through the two he got for me and the one my mom sent and decide whether to keep all of them or not! I got Joe the box set of Battlestar Gallactica, which he is really excited about, and is watching right now, in fact!

We're definitely enjoying our holiday season together, particularly this time that he has off from work. He's taking full advantage of it, staying up late and barely talking to anyone other than me. His version of the perfect vacation!

We're doing fun, Christmassy stuff, too. The other night, Joe and I went out driving to look for Christmas lights. In Chicago, he told me, there are whole neighborhoods that go wild with Christmas light decorating. I wish we had something like that here! We did find a few nice houses though, with reindeer in the yard or candy cane patterns lighting up the trees. Some homes had blue icicle lights hanging from the roofs. One house even had an eight foot Grinch out front!! It was nice seeing the different lights. It made me think about how we'll decorate our own future house someday. We also talked briefly about Santa Claus and wondered whether to share those stories with our future children or not. I suppose we've got plenty of time to think of all that, since neither of those things will be happening any time soon!

We went out driving again today, just to see what was open and possibly eat some Mexican food. The restaurant we planned to eat at had closed by the time we got there, though, so that was out. After having a really lovely drive around a few of the nearby cities, we eventually gave up on food and headed home. I reheated some pasta for myself and ate leftover chocolate cake from last night. Later, Joe got hungry and munched on some Apple Jacks. I really do love that we're having a very no-frills Christmas this year!

I spent a chunk of the afternoon calling loved ones, which was a lot of fun. It was really nice talking to everyone! I got ahold of both my parents and two of my brothers. The third brother is out of town for the day, but I'll get to talk to him tomorrow. I also called a few friends. I even got in touch with Angela, and we spent a long time just catching up on stuff and sharing our feelings about what's been happening in our lives lately. I'm so glad I got a chance to talk to her before heading out on my trip!

Today was also a day to catch up some correspondence, apparently! I jotted out a few notes to my penpals (something that's been LONG overdue), and look forward to hearing back from them.

I guess there's not a whole lot more to say. I just feel grateful for a lot of things in my life this Christmas, and these quiet, wintry days seem like the perfect time to reflect on that, even for just a little while. I mean, I'm stunned, still, that I'm actually leaving for Europe in less than 48 hours. I'm happy my cats are so sweet and affectionate, wanting to sit with me or lie on me whether I'm asleep or awake. It's so nice hearing them purr up a storm every time I rest my hands on them. Joe and I are having fun laughing together and snuggling and watching World Idol (Go, Kurt!) as well as various other programs.

My friends and family are happy and healthy. And I may be a total cheeseball for being so sentimental or whatever, but I'm just saying, all of that means a lot to me, and I'm feeling pretty grateful right now.