We’ll take a cup of kindness yet… ~Auld Lang Syne lyrics

We are back home from our holiday travels.  We went through some ice and some snow and some of the coldest temeratures I’ve ever experienced this holiday.  We had several snowy days in Kansas City and then a couple of snowy days in Minneapolis to eat, drink and be merry.  And so we did. As well as exchange many gifts (so many gifts!), bowl (the kids first time!), see Sherlock Holmes (fun!), eat out at two great restaurants (both with adults only!), rediscover long lost friends (oh how these friends have stayed the same wonderful girls they always were!), give a kiss to a dear friend’s new baby (Kelly Henderson makes beautiful girls!), play driedel (still don’t know what those letters mean!), play euchre (we kicked some Barmann booty for once!), sled down the most magnificant hill (weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!), shop (MOA rocks!), ride rides (MOA rocks!), survive a wobbly 5 story indoor playground (phew!), enjoy big family love (oh the chaos and dirty drink glasses!) and talk and talk. 

So I have realized that the most helpful underlying theme for this holiday season has been about not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.  Not in the way that politicians use this to justify junky legislation but in the way that brings to light that chaos is a universal principle, and so is entropy and complexity and a day being 24 hours which needs to include some sleep.  Letting go of the perfect ideal is liberating.  And it allowed us to leave the house a mess, travel through snow and ice, stay up late, eat too much, do our own best, and have a good time. I’ve never seen our house such a giant disaster as it was this last week, not quite Grey Gardens messy, but going in that direction.  I finally cleaned the red christmas cookie icing off the pantry door just yesterday.  Really.  But in the end, our cups were full.  So, here’s to a GOOD 2010.