Christmas Day.

We had a good Christmas this year. I feel strange about Christmas now, though. I don't know how many years it'll take before I can feel something about Christmas again. I'll spend every Christmas season thinking of Loretta, and how much the season meant to her. I don't know how much of this years funk is because of CCB and the loan falling through, but I'm certain that a good bit of it is because of Loretta. Christmas doesn't seem right without her. Especially not since we're spending it in her house.

But it was a good Christmas. We got Mama a Karaoke machine. I don't know if she'll ever learn to use it, but she's been dropping hints for a while. Now she doesn't have to. I've already mentioned Mara's PDA. And we bought Mara's mom a Bose Wave Radio (though I'm sure she would have rather had the $4,000 we owe her for the Aerostar). We ran short right before Christmas, though, and didn't buy much of anything for anyone else, though.

For my part, Mara got me some Bose QuietComfort headphones. I sort of messed her up, because I accidentally guessed what the present was on Christmas Eve. She handed them to me to put under the tree, and for some reason I said “it sure doesn't look like headphones.” I had no idea that's what it was. We'd made a few jokes about headphones, so this was random association, not an actual guess. Needless to say, it didn't go over to well that I guessed it. I felt really bad about ruining Mara's surprise.

Mama went overboard, as usual. She got me a nice leather coat, two pairs of shoes, and some clothes. She always tries so hard to make sure that Mara and I have a good Christmas. I just wish she would realize that the most wonderful Christmas gift I could ever receive is to be home with her during Christmas. She's quite a lady. I wish I knew how to tell her that.