I apologize for the lapse in my posting. What with the family drama and the holidays in full swing my computer time has been severely limited.

My father finally deigned to call my mother Saturday. He told her he wanted a divorce. To go ahead with her meeting with the lawyer, he wouldn't stop her. He also seems to have it in his head that my mother has turned my sister and I against him. He only has himself to blame there. Are we not both adults? Hellloooo. I do believe at the age of 29 (the sis is 21) I can formulate opinions on my own. I've seen how he's hurt my mother over the past four years. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that she has given him more than enough forgiveness and chances to fix their marriage. Like I told the room mate, my dad checked out of this family a long time ago.

I am sooooo never getting married.

God love my mother for trying to keep things as normal as possible this year too. Last night we braved the single digit temps (gotta love winter in Pennsylvania) to go to one of the local tree lots and picked out a nice little Charlie Brown tree for her living room. Between the two of us we managed to get it settled into its new home and strung with lights. She's not putting ornaments on it. Too painful to see some of the things that would be hanging on the tree. And the dog has a bad habit of taking ornaments off of the tree. Christams Day is going to be rough. We're going to my aunt's house for a meal around lunch. It will be a small affair, just my aunt and uncle, mom, sister and bro-in-law and a few of my aunt's friends. Nothing fancy. At least my sister will be home early. They are leaving from North Carolina tonight after the bro-in-law gets finished with work at 4:30. That should put them back here around midnightish.

How is it that today is Dec. 21 and I still have not purchased any Christmas presents? Sigh. Each year the holidays sneak up on me more and more. Tomorrow and Thursday nights will be spent rushing around trying to find something for my sister, mother and brother-in-law and the room mate. I've got ideas brewing but we'll see if I can really pull them off. Lack of funds and, let's face it, lack of ambition in the holiday spirit have turned me off of the whole season this year.

I need an inufusion of holiday happiness soon...