Last night felt like Christmas Eve. My mom and her friend Faye were arriving in the middle of the night, like Santa Claus. I spent the evening getting the house ready, making the beds, doing laundry, straightening up. Then I went to bed around 10:30, keeping an ear open for the doorbell. It was that jumpy kind of sleep that usually happens for me only on Christmas Eve. Anyway, at 2 AM I heard a knock on the front door and went down to open up.

It's great to have my mom here. She's never visited our house before. We looked all over it last night before they went to bed. I finally had to get back to bed so I would at least get some sleep before morning. It was hard to leave for work today, but she'll be there when I get home this afternoon.