This year has been a little different from past x-mas's for me.  I stood in a line for hours to get my husband an xbox360, but I didn't stand in lines the day after thanksgiving.  I've spent more money on two charity cases than I did on my own immediate family  for x-mas gifts.  I enjoyed the office x-mas party more than I ever had in previous years, partly due to the new management and there choice of where it was held, and partly due to the new friends who have been supportive and generous in there friendship.  This has been great and a wonderful turnaround from the negative nellies and the whiners that I had been dealing with over the past 7 years.  This Christmas may be one of the best I have had in the last 5 years.  The only things missing are the family and friends I cannot see  because they live in other parts of the country or are out of the country all together.  I miss my son and my mother the most.  Merry Christmas to everyone and count your blessings.