Happy Christmas Day!

It's been a wonderful year for Nine of Cups and crew. We know we're blessed with good fortune. We've seen so much, experienced so much, made lots of new friends, reconnected with old friends, and we're happily surrounded by family for the holiday.

We wish you all the merriest of Christmases and a happy, healthy, prosperous 2016 filled with all the magic that life can hold.

As for Nine of Cups, who knows where she'll sail in 2016? Wherever it is, you're invited to come along … it's just a little further.

Christmas Nostalgia...Bubble Lights

Christmas in this family is all about traditions and memories ... telling and listening to stories. It's impossible to decorate the Christmas tree, for instance, without telling a story about each and every ornament that's being hung. It's a long procedure.

When I was a child, I remember making the present delivery runs just before Christmas. My mom would have wrapped all the gifts for the cousins and we traveled what seemed a long, long distance (20-30 miles maybe) to deliver them to my cousins in Clinton and Oxford and Dudley … all little Massachusetts towns … where members of the extensive Lacoste family resided. We'd just show up … no reservations required. The adults would have coffee and chat. The kids stayed out of the adults' purview and sneaked peeks at gifts under the tree.

My Aunt Jeannette's house was always a favorite stop. My seven cousins always seemed to have so much more fun than we did. After all, they had bubble lights on their tree and when we arrived, Uncle Henry would let us turn them on! We would all lie on the floor with our heads underneath their tree, looking up and watching the bubbles ... totally mesmerized … and mentally preparing ourselves, I guess, for the lava lamps that were to come in the next decade.

After listening to my sister recount the bubble light story for the umpteenth time, our cousins, Mark and Julia, ran across the nostalgic lights at a shop in Vermont and bought them for her. What a delight as she strung them with the greenery on the mantle. Since arriving, we've spent several evenings trying to unwind by watching the bubbles do their thing. We've discovered that a glass or two of wine tends to enhance the experience.

It's Christmas Eve. We're heading to friends for some Christmas cheer and then to a candlelight Christmas service at Lin's historic and beautiful UU church in Milton, Massachusetts. How are you spending your Christmas Eve?

Caught in a Whirlwind

From the moment Lin picked us up at Logan Airport, it's been a non-stop frenzy of activity. The weather was unseasonably warm for a day and then dipped below freezing. The forecast, however, is for a warm, non-white Christmas. Sigh! If we have to put up with the travel and cold, we want the white stuff on the ground at the appropriate time. Speaking of cold … David has one.

Lin and I have been thrifting up a storm. David and I brought very few clothes home with us and I've been stocking up on warm clothes for us both. I came home the other day with two huge bags of sweaters, fleeces, long sleeve shirts and jeans … all in excellent condition, brand names, hardly used. It was Dollar Day at St. Vincent de Pauls' (aka Vinnies) … total cost $22. The thrill of the bargain … not quite as good as seeing dolphins off the bow, but it wasn't bad!

There was a Cousins' Christmas get-together over the weekend (we have lots and lots … and lots of cousins) that we jointly hosted at Lin's house. There are a myriad of doctor's appointments, lab tests and dentists that we're enduring midst all the festivities. We're invited to a Christmas Eve soirée with friends followed by a Christmas Eve candlelight service at Lin's UU church. There's Christmas Day, of course and Lin also celebrates Boxing Day. We've been food shopping at least a half dozen times and cooking and baking non-stop. We've been wrapping gifts and stuffing stockings and when there's a free moment, we play Speed Scrabble and drink wine.

We thought it was hectic in Chaguaramas when we arrived to haul out Cups. That was nothing compared to this. We flop into bed each night exhausted with more activities on the agenda for the next day.

Complaining? No, not really. We're glad to be part of the holiday hustle and bustle with friends and family, but we won't mind the reprieve that comes when the holidays are over. Whew!