Last Christmas I was all geared up to spend the holiday away from family. I made holiday plans with friends in Kyoto, made a tree from origami paper, and made a light ornament that I liked well enough to leave up all year. In an unforeseen turn of events I ended up going home for a funeral. Man, oh man, the emotions. This year I really won’t be home for Christmas, and for some reason I am really not ready for the season. Even trying to pick out the chords to “The Happiest Christmas Tree” on my ukulele (done and done) made me dream of Christmas Future when I could goad my siblings into performing it with me for our family. Not for Christmas Present. I felt like a senior citizen: “I might not even bother with a tree this year.”

Then today I received a text from Kim-Chi: If I have a wine and cutting paper snowflakes part, could you join? BAM. Christmas spirit found. I sent my response—Uh, YEAH!—and immediately started dreaming of how I was going to clean and decorate my house, get a new heated carpet (unrelated), and then host a gingerbread house-making party while serving up hot homemade cider. I would learn a couple more Christmas tunes on the ukulele (“Mele Kalikimaka” is unexpectedly difficult) and offer to accompany someone on piano at the church’s Christmas concert. Don’t hold me to that last one, but I think I can manage the rest.

I’m writing this blog entry while at school—judge me not, Reinholts, for I have finished my other work—and I don’t have internet access. Ergo I can’t provide visual proof of my newfound holiday cheer, but I did take this picture of pumpkin that I baked before I made it into a pie.