Finn and I are up at my parents’ for Second Christmas. Mama got taken down by a sinus infection a full week before the Big Day and gutted it out until everyone left after dinner; Finn and I took her to the Patient First that evening and got her diagnosed and treated. She’s resting up at home, as much as we wanted her to come up with us.

Christmas morning was perfect. Finn was patient enough to wait for us all to wake up and get our acts together. The Geblers came over in PJs and Santa hats and Grand got there a half-hour later, and we tore into the boxes. Finley got everything she asked Santa for (a rock tumbler, polished minerals, and lots of other science gifts), as well as a better pottery wheel and a plush kitten. Glen gave her an Osmo. which is some really cool technology.

Up in New York, Santa did his usual bang-up job, so I’m writing this among an elbow-high pile of presents in front of some bowl game after putting Finn to bed. After opening everything we got motivated to visit Grandma up on the hill and then to check out the remains of Grampy’s barn. My hope was to be able to salvage some decent wood for sculpture or furniture–well, really, my hope was to be able to reach something worthwhile; it’s been a few years since it fell down, and the brush grows quickly up there. It turns out that there’s still some decent wood to be found up there amongst the burrdocks. Renie and I found a stack of tongue-and-groove floorboards out in the open that might lend themselves to a good project. My Dad told us they were salvaged from the old gym in Sherwood. There’s a nice section of wall in the shadow of the silo that I’ve got my eye on–about five wallboards still nailed to a frame and standing off the ground–so we’re going back tomorrow with some kind of a saw to cut them out. There’s also a pile of six 5″x5″ hand-hewn beams off to the side that Renie and I are going to claim, even if we can’t carry them off ourselves this weekend, which are in beautiful shape.

I’d be posting pictures here but the SIM card reader on my MacBook Pro isn’t working and we don’t have a USB to Mini-USB cord between the four of us, so the only thing I have is my Instagram feed to point at. (shakes fist at TECHNOLOGY!!)

But overall, we have much to be thankful for: another great year, a healthy family, good fortune, and happiness. Here’s to 2015.