Christmas is in a week and a half. I've been excited for Christmas for months and now, all of a sudden it's right around the corner and there's hardly a hint of Christmas spirit in my house. Dad packed away all our stuff in a storage unit and, as you can imagine the typical logical of your average male, it was packed away in no particular order with zero organization. And we're talking about a storage unit 4 feet wide and twelve feet deep. I ended up climbing on boxes and ducking under spider webs trying to dig out some Christmas decorations. I found the ornaments and a few other things, but nothing compared to our usual display; which is fine by mom, who says that she "means it" this time, "we're not going crazy!". Just a tree and a lot of candles. Mark 05 as the year of broken traditions. It doesn't end here. We're not going to our usual restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner, but changing to a place at the resort where Jackie and Tim got married. Christmas dinner will be hosted at Jackie and Tim's, and we're not having our usual Christmas night open house party, either. I understand, of course--too much hassel to unpack, repack, only to move and repack again. Am I disappointed? Maybe just a little. On the other hand, we stuck to traditions last year and didn't have such a fabulous time. Maybe our lives have outgrown our traditions? Are traditions detailed and set in stone, or are the ideas malleable and suseptible to alterations? How far can you bend a tradition until it isn't one any more? Carrie