That's Life (Christmas Eve 2006)

Sitting here at the dining room table with a glass of tempranillo, potato leek soup, crab cakes and good bread with good butter. Keith Urban on the box, child off doing something non-electronic as per instructions, having just flipped all the playing cards all over the table in his attempts to learn how to shuffle. We play a lot of rummy at Grandpa's.

The table is covered with:

Aforementioned wine and food

Bionicles

CDs, about 50

DVDs, about 10

A therapy ball

Keys

A Tic-Tac dispenser with one left (cinnamon)

A plastic bag of Sharpees, assorted colors

Two xmas videos for consideration

An open box of reduced fat Triscuits, with a crappy recipe by Rachael Ray (tuna and white bean salad, canned beans and tuna – blech) on the back of the box

A note pad

A receipt for a hairbrush, glasses case

Some wrappers from Hershey's Kisses, long since eaten

I am not going out again tonight. It's after 6:30 pm and while I don't have ANY chocolate, I think I'll survive on the many wonderful tasty things we brought with us and that we bought today at Central Market. I have had chocolate today, and I think I'm good. In a pinch, there's always Bailey's.

During the brief conversation over dinner (soup and crab cakes for me, Hebrew National dogs and ketchup for Wonder Boy), it was pondered whether or not Bionicles have penises. I'll have to Google it since Wonder Boy declines to answer.

My father is rallying. He's weak, he's frail and he's delicate. But he has a strong will to live and I think that surprises him. He understands the gravity of his situation two weeks ago, as I explained it to him. He asked questions, and I answered as best as I could.

In a few minutes, we will log off the various electronic distractors, decorate our tree, make something ultra-sweet and baked, watch a video, a movie or fight over what we will watch on digital cable, read from our book and tuck in for the night (oh, and someone will have a little bit of elf work to do)…. And tomorrow we'll get to see the Old Man again.

I am so blessed. To have made it to Austin in bad weather, to have the abundance of this messy kitchen table, to stroll through Central Market joyfully, to visit my dad in the rehab hospital and be greeted with "Hello, Dr. Cox!" (He's proud of the Ph.D.)

That's life. Messy kitchen tables, frail old folks safely somewhere warm, kids keyed up on Christmas Eve, moms and dads biding their time innocently until bedtime, Hershey's kisses and do Bionicles have penises. That's life, and I'm so blessed.