My kids have decided they want to be home for Christmas this year. We gave the choice of having us come to them instead. They want to be with Chuck's mother, who is 91. She's absolutely thrilled.

I will be doing a bit more to prepare for the holidays than I have in a while and am keeping my fingers crossed that nobody will be in the hospital this year. I didn't realize how badly last year's lost holiday season effected all of us.

We also just found out that our neice will be home from Chicago. Chuck's whole family is thrilled that we'll be there, too, so we made the right decision.

Time for me to get busy!