Table for Eight

1. Zu's potholder-maker (and the potholder she made me). PS: When I had one of these as a kid, I could never get it right, so I ended up with just the nylon elastics everywhere! 2. Dave's new knife holder/copy-cat Food Network Demo Kitchen. Hopefully tomorrow I will remember to tell you about how duct and Duck Tape(c) has changed our life over here at the Meehan house. (Put it this way, a lot of people are going to be getting homemade wallets in 2014.) ****** PS: Here are a few more of the Things I Learned In 2013 (cont'd): * Don't stand too close to the mirror. (No one over age 40 needs to see their pores magnified.) * I like blush. Like a lot. And as I get older, I find myself putting on more and more. (If I'm blessed to live to be a grandma, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be that grandma with two circles of blush and big costume jewelry. And I'm going to love it.) * I love having a chalkboard wall. * Having your basic needs ...

We are super excited that it's Christmas Eve and we're about to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus! We are also super excited because we get to have a phone call tomorrow from Elder Meehan--one of two phone calls during the year (Mother's Day is the other one.). It's hard to believe that we haven't heard his voice in months. Months! Wow. As I sit here typing this early morning, all of our kids are sleeping. It's a pretty rare occasion; usually one or two are awake by this time. And since I have a few solo minutes, I thought I would share a few of the thoughts I have about how much Christmas means to me: --I love Christmas because it's a holiday that seems to impact all people for good. The Christmas season brings out the best in all of us. It's the time when we really get to feel what it would be like if we chose love, generosity, and selflessness every day of our lives. I love that. It kinda makes me feel more connected to all people (my own f...