surgery, friends, and GIVING.

First off, I had surgery last Friday, and for those of you who were aware and said prayers, thank you!  It wasn't anything serious, but I do appreciate the cards, calls, texts, etc.  I felt very loved and taken care of!  I had to take medical leave from school, so I missed the last 4 days with my kiddos.  It's now officially Christmas break so I won't be seeing them until January 9 (YAY FOR CHRISTMAS BREAK!), but I know I'm gonna miss their little faces. 

My surgery went well, and recovery has been so much easier than I anticipated.  The first couple of days were tough, but truly nothing like I expected. I'm thankful that it's over, that my recovery is going smoothly,  and that I can now enjoy the holidays!

You all know about my dear friends Meredith and Claire.  It's been a year since the last time the 3 of us were together so I've been counting down the days to when we could be together again.  It's just never often enough. They were both in town for Christmas, and the only night we were all able to get together was Tuesday (only 4 days after my surgery), so I honestly didn't think I'd even feel like doing much at all.  Fortunately, I felt just well enough to have Mexican with these two!  Maybe I pushed myself a little too soon, but it was totally worth it.  And I haven't done much except relax since then (just in case you care...).

ANYWAY---

Here we are--you know--just being all cute and stuff.... ;)



Since Meredith lives in Texas, I don't get to see this sweet little face much either. 

Sweet Madeleine!  Still sometimes hard for me to believe that Mere has a child!:)  She's just beautiful.

 Now...I leave you with this. 

If you're anything like me, you get tired of all of the depressing news you see on TV and read about online and in the newspaper--especially this time of the year!

How refreshing it was to read this article about someone's selfless act of giving this Christmas. 

Read it and be encouraged. 

I sure was.

'Tis the season for giving.

Merry Christmas!  That is, if you don't hear from me before.

xoxo