So I was already pretty happy about Christmas this year.  I have been thankful for my friends and how they have become a stable family for me in California when I am away and missing my family on the holidays, and I am thankful for David and getting to spend Christmas with him again, because I love him and I pretty sure being with someone you love on a holiday is the point, and we are spending Christmas Eve with one of my favorite families ever.  All this way pretty good.  Pretty great even- but...

The even greater is that I am going to Maryland at the end of the week.  The details are- I got a pretty substantial Christmas bonus, and thought to myself about paying a credit card bill or buying Guitar Hero on Ebay for too much (j/k) or putting it into savings, and then I thought to myself- hmm, what is the one thing I would love to spend this money on- and the answer was time with my family.  And I got sort of permission to take the next week of work off, so I am leaving on Wednesday after work and will get to spend 5.5 whole days with my mom, my sister, and my baby (my cat Mathilde pronounced Matilda).  The airports were not I deal and the cost was pretty much the amount of my bonus, and it is worth every inconvenience and every penny.  I have not been to my house in over a year and a half, and I need some time in the place where I grew up.  I majorly need some one on one sister time and to drop in on a few other friends.

So yeah, I am getting the best Christmas gift, which is a trip home to see family.  I am thankful for my family here, but this was a very unexpected and totally welcome surprise.