It was shortly after nine that I got dressed for my long winter’s nap on the night before Christmas.

That actually was nine this morning, and the son who was most helpful in the late hours with putting presents under the tree and stuffing stockings was still in the living room plucking on his mother’s guitar, while the youngest houseguest had already made two forays to the bathroom to scout the situation around the tree. I was under covers before half past, but was up again roughly three hours later, knowing that Christmas had to begin or it would not be pleasant. My poor wife, who had to work today (no real holidays in the nursing profession), got a head start on me on the sleeping; stockings always fall to me, as I am unreasonably fair in the distribution of candy (I count the number of pieces in the bag and divide them by the number of stockings that must be filled), and since I helped with the late wrapping there was nothing left for her. When she was ready, we began the ritual of opening the presents.

I’m not much for reporting on what I, or anyone else, got, but I do want to mention the very nice jacket I received. It looks like it will be warm without being bulky, and that’s a good thing. It is not cold enough today for me to test it, but we still have winter weather ahead so it will get significant use.

With that, I’m going to tackle the remainder of Tuesday, in the hope of getting a bit of that sleep tonight.

–M. J. Young