A holly jolly month

Despite the fact that I have been struck down with the killer cold that started with Corey and then went to the siblings, Mom, Matt and finally me, here's a review of the festive month of December:

• The first weekend, Matt & I took a trip to Cambridge to locate the office where he was having an interview at, and we strolled around Central Square, had a tasty lunch, and ended up at the Harvard bookstore. Then Greta and I did Christmas shopping and had pedicures!
• A few months ago, I was invited to join the staff advisory committee at work, and one of our tasks is organizing the holiday party. The party was a blast, and I ran the raffle (we raised a lot for charity!)
  
• On the 13th, Holly, Greta Natyra and I went and saw the Nutcracker, always a beautiful production! This year was fun because we went to the matinee, and so many cute little kids were there, dressed in their finest dresses and little suits. Then a send-off party to Jeff, who was leaving for California the following day, followed by a surprise party for Nenna's 80th birthday with a funny and touching "This Is Your Life" slideshow with her family and friends
• The next day, I went with Greta to a Handel Messiah Sing, where we rented the musical scores and sang along with the entire audience ( I wanted to sit with Greta, so I faked - pretty successfully - being a soprano!)
• next weekend was the major snowstorm, soI got to work from home instead of fending my way through the snow-emergency streets of Boston, and Kevin's winter party was (sadly!) cancelled. The Kiwanee family reunion was also much smaller than usual, because of the bad roads (Matt and I became friendly with a snowbank in Hanover on the way down!), and when the kids came up to visit us for our pre-Christmas party, the heavy snow was cause for an early departure!
• Then came Christmas, with much celebrating (amidst our lovely decorated apartment, decked with all sorts of Christmas decor). Present highlights included history books, video games, a GPS, and (at last!) a snow shovel to finally help dig us out of the parking lot! I created genealogies as a number of presents, which was a blast to share.
• We ended the festive season with our annual New Years Eve party which (surprise!) was also a major snowstorm. The Yankee Swap included some great prizes, and we played a new game - Wise or Otherwise, which was a blast! (Perhaps due to the fact that yours truly was the winner by a landslide! Apparently in a former life, I was a proverb-writer!)