Merry Christmas? Huh?

It's EXTREMELY weird to go to the grocery store (passing crabs, coconut trees, and vibrant flowers on the way) and see Christmas decorations up and hear Christmas music on. It's a little trippy. In fact, going to the store is pretty much the only reminder I have that it's the holiday season. It feels exactly the same as it did when we arrived in April, with no real difference throughout the rest of the summer and fall. My good friend in Minnesota had to send us some pretty leaves to help us remember that there was such a thing as fall. Andrew has just come back from an epic trip to Germany for small-post consular training, and he said that he could smell cold when he got off the airplane. I will be interested to see what that's like when we hit Utah.

Because I don't really believe in mailing out Christmas cards (save the trees and skip the stress and the cost!), unless they're accompanied by a more substantive present, here it is!

There you go. I met a very nice guy from Hawaii a few days ago and he couldn't believe that I enjoyed living here. Well, I do, dengue notwithstanding (we're still pouring on the bug spray before we venture anywhere outside, even on the deck—the epidemic has died down, but it's still an issue). We are quite unplugged from the rest of the world—for the last four days our internet was down, and the phone wasn't working consistently either. Since I couldn't Skype with Andrew while he was ALMOST EXACTLY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD, I took my old, broken iPod and stood out on the beach to try to catch a wireless signal from neighboring houses. So Andrew and I sent emails for the last few days he was gone (it's the longest we've ever been apart in our 4 years of marriage, and I survived, but barely. I need Andrew like an intense bicycle-riding fish needs a bicycle—that is, I need him). Once a hermit crab climbed onto my toe while I was trying to type with those tiny keyboard buttons (and trying not to drop the already-broken iPod in the sand), and another time I almost did drop the iPod while trying to type and hold an umbrella against the wind (it's still the rainy season).

Anyway, I don't mind being a little unplugged. It helps one think. Step back. Pause. Observe. Analyze. Correct. Start afresh. Think about why I celebrate Christmas and how much I love my family.

Therefore, I wish you all a Consciously Merry Christmas/Sentiently Happy Holiday Season.