WITHOUT MUCH ADO

'How are you' he asked.

'Fine' I replied and asked him how he was. His answer was the same as mine but we could sense we were anything but fine as we celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple apart.

Cedar allergies did nothing but add to the somber mood. Temperatures climbed to 25 degrees Celsius so I opened the door to the balcony and two of the windows letting in the pollen. I wondered if we were going to have a proper winter this season.

During my afternoon coffee, I took out the remaining dough I had from the vanilla crescents and baked five cookies. This was as to close to celebrating Christmas as I got this year.

Afterwards I was glad to talk with my oldest daughter though the camera on her phone was broken so I could not see her on FaceTime. But she was able to see me and my husband as I was talking with him on Skype right before she called.

My son mentioned he was unable to call me on his iPad as he let me know it was currently in his father's bedroom and he was not allowed to use it during 'special days'. Good to know as I will make sure to adopt this rule at our place next Christmas when the children are here with us.

Christmas is now over having come and gone without much ado. I look forward to next year's celebration when all five of us are together as a family. As it should be.