Last minute shopping is done. We picked up Tom at his home and took him to the 4PM service at St. Mary’s. That went OK–taking him to church, or anywhere else in public, is an adventure.

Then we brought him home to our house. He is staying the night here. We had our traditional spaghetti with clam sauce dinner–rice spaghetti because of Tom’s gluten allergy. He was really hungry, and in retrospect quite well behaved about not bothering me while I was cooking. After dinner, and dessert, he wanted popcorn. We happily obliged him–a bowl of popcorn keeps him busy for a while. He is obviously delighted to be here. We are coping with him, falling into the routine of many years, while at the same time wondering how we managed to survive doing that every day for so long.

So we are watching/listening to the Christmas Eve concerts on Public TV. The St. Olaf College choirs were really great. Now we are listening to those of Bethel collegeUniversity. Not quite as good, but OK. We have finished wrapping presents for the boys, and have made preparations for Christmas morning breakfast. We are done. Everything is ready. Now we just have to hope that Tom sleeps through the night.