I awoke this morning a bit after five and decided to come downstairs and get some work done (does blogging count?). At my desk I can see that my husband was up sometime during the night doing tax preparation and some filing. Looks like we're starting to become a 24-hour operation (Like Wawa?). We're limited somewhat in what we can do during bouts of insomnia - since our house is little dish washing or painting the bath (both of which need to be done) would wake everyone else up - but as long as we have functioning computer equipment looks like we can be productive whenever the mood/need strikes, within reason.


Pre-school is closed today so my son is having what he calls a "Mommy-Daddy Day". Whenever he finds out that a Mommy-Daddy Day is on the calendar, whether through weekend, holiday or vacation, he does this little happy dance which makes me feel bad about the whole day care/pre-school thing. Then again, whenever we pick him up from school he insists, "I need to stay here. Go away and come back later." I guess I shouldn't feel too horribly. We're having Mommy-Daddy Days right up until January 5 so it's a nice little break for him and some good family time for all of us. My husband is on break, too, which helps since that means his schedule is more flexible than usual - nice, since one of my major clients seems to enjoy having everything hit the fan around Christmas. This year is no exception.


Tonight's dinner will be our traditional Chinese or Indian food (no decision made on this, yet), followed by peppermint ice cream (not homemade - although I should look into that) and chocolate cookies (definitely homemade) at home. My parents started this tradition when I was a girl and Santa had the job of decorating our Christmas tree. They wanted to be sure that everything was ready for him to get a good start right after bedtime and so our Christmas Eve feast was outsourced to minimize fuss and cleaning. Even though we eventually began decorating as a family, the dinner out stuck and my sisters also do it to this day. Our late day calls to each other will go like this:


-"Where are you guys?"


-"Oh, Golden Dragon/Maharaja/Bamboo House/Pratip's."


-"Yum! Have a dumpling/golub jamon/spicy cabbage/mango lassi for me! Merry Christmas! Talk to you tomorrow!"


These calls will go on until everyone knows where everyone else is and what they're eating. This is the kind of menu-related diligence helped create the HotWaterBath you know today. In my family, it's not enough to say, "Merry Christmas," you must also know what the recipient of your wishes is eating while you say it.


So, should you celebrate Christmas in your house, Merry Christmas. What are you eating?