Merry Christmas Eve

This is my first Christmas away from my family in 27 years. Is that weird? I think it is (can anyone say grow up already) But it also makes me feel sad. My parents live in Taiwan because my dad works for the government, so my grandpa, brothers and parents are all out there. My grandparents also moved this year, as did my aunt and her family. I'm grateful I have my husband and his family here- it just would make it better if my family wasn't all so far away. But that's what you get with an expat life. Distance.

To make it better this year I made my Christmas card Chinese themed- Shèngdàn jié kuàilè- which is Merry Christmas in Mandarin. The card was done in ink washes, similar to Chinese ink painting. And yes those are my cats (count them THREE) One of them is my mom's cat though, who we are watching while she and my father are overseas. He was my cat in high school in South Africa. He has moved a million times in his life, from South Africa to Beijing, to DC, back to Beijing. My mom thought one more move might finish him off, so he's here for now. One time in Beijing, he got lost for 6 months in the dead of winter. Right before we left for Thailand for Christmas, one of the gaurds in our complex told us he had seen him around the corner. So my mom rushes over and there he was, skin and bones, digging in the dirt. He was never really quite the same after that. Poor guy. He is so scared of everything now. Every single noise in the world.

Here's to a beautiful Christmas, and a beautiful New Years.