Well, the holiday cards are almost all mailed. I am down to just addressing them, as I have gotten them all made. Can you believe it? I finished my goal of making over 60 Christmas cards? Yowsers!!

I have only received 6 Christmas cards. Remind me again why I sent out so many cards??

Life has been out of control busy. I have been in full panic mode getting my house cleaned for my sister's holiday visit. Honestly, I don't know why I am stressing sooo bad, it is not like her house is perfect...but yet, worry and obsession are two of my favorite hobbies. Wait -- don't think that I am saying that my sister is a slob, she just has 5 kids, 2 dogs, 3 cats, and she is a working mom. So, while her house is clean, like mine, it is not Martha Stewart clean, again, like mine.

When I was growing up, my mom worked. For many years, until her passing, my Nana would come to stay with us over the summer and again in the winter. She was Dad's mom, and she was there for us after the divorce. My dad is an alcoholic. Many years after the divorce, he stopped drinking, and got remarried....but that is a story for a different day.

Nana was a dynamo of a woman. She always made you feel as if you were her favorite. She would send you out to the icecream truck with a $5 bill, and pretend like she did not know what you were talking about when you tried to give her back her change. She made monster meatballs, overly tart apple pies, and told stories about her life in Providence. As the youngest in my family, she spent a lot of time with me, while sister and brother were out doing their thing, and Mom was working. It was only recently, that I found out that my sister (who we all think of as the family historian) never heard many of these stories. Her best story, was when her family came over from Lithuania. They came over in the lower level of a ship in the early 1900's. They, like supposedly many other immegrants, scraped together their life savings to come to the US, seaking a better way of life. To save money, her infant sister was packed inside a barrel. HUH??? Yep, packed inside a barrel. There were airholes, and they brought her out all of the time, just hid her, enough to make her their little stow away.

I lost my grandmother when I was in highschool. I think about that story from time-to-time. I realize that despite any hard times, I have never had to hide my baby in a barrel. I have never had to pack up a few meager possessions, and my family to go across the globe in search of a new life. I am grateful for her parents that took the chance, and my Nana who was a very strong woman.

I know that Thanksgiving is long since over, but Christmas break is almost here. Twenty years ago, that would have meant that Nana was coming soon. I looked forward to that, almost as much as I did Christmas Day.

So, while you are all taking time with your families this Christmas -- take the time to remember the ones that are no longer with you. Enjoy those happy memories, and eat some extra pie, just for them!!

In the meantime, I better post a card for you. This is one of my favorite designs of my Christmas cards...this was a limited edition (only 5 made). I had forgotten that I purchased this stamp for my cards....once I remembered, I had almost 60 cards made. Not wanting this stamp to sit unused for another year, I whipped up a few additional cards....Isn't it adorable??