Christmas Fun

Now that my trial is over, my evenings have cleared up again. For a while, I was coming home, eating dinner, and then burying myself again in trial preparation.

I have been neglecting my bible reading. I have been neglecting working out. I have been neglecting playing with Edmund. I have gained a new understanding of people who stick their kids in front of a movie or the television. During my time of rest in the evening before working again, I found myself eagerly situating us all on the couch and firing up a movie. This was a way for me to relax without having to keep up with my crazily active two year old. So...I understand the allure of this type of lifestyle, but I am ashamed that I succumbed to it.

I have been neglecting my writing of fiction. That has GOT to be picked up again soon. Not many people know this, but a powerful motivator for me becoming a lawyer was that I thought I would have time and mental and imaginative energy on the side to write fiction. The ultimate goal has always been (despite how distant and unlikely it seems now) to eventually retire from my "day job" and just write fiction for a living (think John Grisham or Terry Brooks, both one time attorneys turned successful authors). I hope this dream can still become a reality, but I'm getting a bit discouraged.

But for now, with my extra time in the evening, it's time for some Christmas season fun. Two nights ago, T and I stayed up late and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix after Edmund went to bed. Last night was my little brother Justice's birthday. We ate home-made pizza for dinner and had cheesecake brownies for dessert. After that, we all played a game of monopoly (I won. It was luck. I never had the opportunity to either make a bad or good decision the entire game.) Tonight, we'll have the family over to my house for cookies, tea, cards, and a nice warm fire in the fireplace. Our fireplace is fantastic. We've been having fires almost every night. Tomorrow night, my dad's parents arrive from Pekin, Illinois. Tracy's making lasagna for dinner and they'll all come over for dinner, games, etc. (and another fire, of course) Saturday afternoon we have "Christmas dinner" with the grandparents, and that night we go to a home-for-Christmas party for a friend in boot-camp. Sunday morning, we open presents from the Grandparents. Kimberly is coming home for a couple of weeks, so we'll be spending a lot of time with her too.

And after that...who knows. I don't know yet how much time I'll take off of work for Christmas, but when I do take some days off, I hope to get some work done outside (cutting and stacking wood, and stuff like that).

Maybe I'll even settle down in front of the fire with some hot-cocoa and write some fiction.