The 6th Day of Christmas -- journaling...

It is the 6th Day of Christmas and everyone is rising in a leisurely manner. I am absolutely loving awakening to a quiet home, and it staying that way for a good, long while. It was 35 degrees here, when I let the dogs out around 7am. I puffed out the smoky-looking air and perused the woods behind us -- beautiful and quiet and dimly lit. We are heading downtown to IKEA today, later. Looking back to the 5th Day of Christmas: Yesterday my friend Lisa picked up Little Man to go for a playdate with her daughter and new puppies. The girls and I left Dad alone with his woodchip pile to go to the Mall (...I am thinking of writing, at some point, about "Mallschooling" -- catchy, no?). It was clear and a bit brisk, perfect for shoveling and Dad did shovel and spread lots of mulch over our muddy backyard. The Mall Foodcourt was crowded with happy moms and tweens and teens -- very nice to see others enjoying what I get to enjoy often. Maybe I am a starry-eyed optimist, but I see so much goodness around me. We live in a very safe and, for lack of a better way to put it, a well-educated area of American Suburbia. As a southerner, I feel the South here in Georgia, even though North Atlanta is mostly transplants from everywhere. It is so much cheaper to live here than any other metro area in the U.S., or the planet, for that matter, that it is very amenable to family life. You can enjoy big city perks and still afford a nice house with a good-sized yard...well, anyway: the girls talked me in to a new outfit, at a rock bottom price...then, we picked up Little Man, saw our friends' new puppies, chatted with their family, Mom (yours truly) sipped a half glass of good red wine, and then back home to change clothes, drink tea, leave the boys at home and then off to AMC Cinemas to use Dad's gift card from work to see Twilight. M read all four books since T-giving and I read about a quarter of the first book last nite. I like it. I like it alot. More on that, later. So many hunger and thirst for the truths of the Old Faith which is also known as Catholicism...more later, very important topic and do not want to botch it...Adios for now, dear Christmas journal.