1. Completely smooth travel on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Truly, our flights went off without a hitch, and although it was snowing when we landed late at night, the drive home was safely this side of white-knuckle. Even the deer milling around in the middle of the state highway didn't interrupt our travel for more than a minute.
2. Three of my four kids are now adults! At least on paper. Kid 2 and Kid 3 turned 18 on Monday. There have been days (mostly in those first couple of years) where getting us all to their 18th birthday with health and sanity intact seemed like a lofty goal, but we made it. Mostly. If you consider us sane. I know parenting doesn't end once they turn 18, but it does feel like an important milestone.
3. Watching Kid 4 play basketball. I have mixed feelings about adding this into our schedule, but he is having a great time playing on a team with his friends, and I love watching him. Plus, it's great exercise.
4. Spotify playlists. I've been a long-time Pandora listener, but the lure of seasonal playlists enticed me over to Spotify earlier in the fall. I created a Thanksgiving playlist (so easy! and you don't have to own the songs on your playlist!), and today I've been listening to an Advent playlist from one of my favorite podcasters.
5. Checking things off on the college list. Kid 3 is taking a gap year after high school, but Kid 2 has been deep in the application process all fall. This week, he turned in a couple of applications. It's nice to get some of them crossed off the list.
6. Attending the Messiah with Kid 3. Well, about half the Messiah. Apparently, the orchestra objects to performing the whole thing. (I don't blame them. Handel is liberal with the 16th notes for the violins.) This is our fifth year attending, and I enjoy it more each time. It's performed in a small Catholic church with great acoustics, and it's a very peaceful start to December.
7. The high school music concert. The music program at our high school is wonderful, and I always enjoy the band and choir concerts. Kid 2 and Kid 3 both sing tenor in the choir, and they did a great job.
8. Being home with Michael for the first time since mid-October. First, we had a weekend in Nashville with friends, then he was traveling for work, then we were in Utah for Thanksgiving. All good things, but it's nice to have some "normal" time again.
9. Kid 1 is coming home! He decided to return home after he finishes his final college class in a couple of weeks and stay here while looking for what he jokingly called "his big-boy job." I'm thrilled to have him home for the holidays, as it was looking like that wasn't going to happen this year.
10. Advent. My Christmas experience improved dramatically when I added Advent observance, and it continues to bring calm and peace to December. I'll (hopefully) blog more about Advent in the weeks ahead.
