Christmas wrap blog.

In the last week or so I've been as indolent as a father of two little kids can be, which is to say a fair amount has been going on, and I've been involved with many of these activities, but I've done little for-pay work and no volunteer blogging. Been nice to get away from those things, and it's not quite over yet. I'm working tomorrow and Tuesday, and then I'm off again till next Monday.

I will regret all this down time come January 5, when the real post-holiday drudgery begins.

But, it's been worth it, so I could sleep till about 8 a.m. every day, buy things for my immediate family, compose and mail cards, attend a Christmas Eve service at St. Nicholas in Elk Grove Village, drive around a neighborhood just south of us that loves its holiday displays (our favorite: an inflatable Homer Simpson Santa), enjoy roast pork and wine for Christmas Eve dinner, listen to 90.9's amazingly eclectic Christmas music, wrap presents and watch Lilly unwrap most of them on Christmas morning, feel the quiet of the neighborhood on Christmas Day, watch too much television, read as much as I could, venture foolishly into a handful of crowded stores on Boxing Day, talk by phone with my mother, brothers, and a very old friend -- known him 30 years now -- and do all the usual busy-ness associated with interacting with an 11-month old, not to mention a six-year-old.