I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season, and for those that celebrate Christmas, I hope that the day was all you hoped for.

I had a very quiet day with my mother and sister. Well, not exactly quiet. None of us are Christians (lapsed Catholics now agnostic/atheist), so for us Christmas day is simply a day of appreciation of each other. We spend the day together, exchange gifts, and generally just hang out. All three of us together is something we rarely do more than twice a year, so it is still special. We had a nice cold meat spread (it is summer here, after all) and watched music DVDs that I had given my mother. We both love the White Stripes, so I got her the latest live release, with that great cover of Jolene. She would turn it up to ear splitting stage, and every time she walked out of the room, I'd turn it down a notch.

Anyway, it was a good day with no arguments and too much eaten. And then I got to enjoy the quiet after everyone had left. It's nice having company, but it's nice to know that they will be leaving, as well.

Until next time.