My spam and hit count is down. I weirdly find this encouraging. I would like to think that people are turning slightly from their throbbing screens, small and less small, and reaching out to more tangible stuff. Silly me.

It’s a week later and I’m still weak from illness. Yesterday Eileen and I went grocery shopping. By the time we were done I was exhausted. I was also happy when my Mom phoned me. This is a good sign. She does seem more alert now than she has in months, more connected to her surroundings. She even seems to have a bit of a sense of humor. Wow. As good a Christmas gift as I could receive.

But speaking of gifts, this has been a Christmas where I seem to have been showered with gifts. Eileen and I were talking about this before Christmas. I told her that whereas neither of us particularly craves much stuff, we do crave giving things to people we care about, especially each other.

It’s difficult to give gifts to those close to you, but it’s important. Eileen is terrified of giving me books, some of my most prized possessions and choicest gifts for others. But really anything she gives me is always a delight.

This year she surprised me with a whistling teapot. This is a perfect gift for me. More and more I need a timer to keep me alert while preparing food.

Daughter Elizabeth continues to post daily updates and pics of new grandaughter, Alex Daum. This is an excellent gift in and of itself. Elizabeth and Jeremy are planning a stateside trip for a bar mitzvah which will include a Holland stop. Woo hoo!

My best gift from daughter Sarah was a relaxed hour or so of chatting online.

Although she did send a box of cool stuff like calendars of China trip pics for people.

Then there was the incredible outpouring from my brother’s side of the family.

I guess it helps to be incapable of not sharing one’s own self absorbed information whether via this blog or other routes like Facebooger because I got some cool stuff.

Mark and Leigh got me A Greek Anthology.  I have already been working on it. Very cool.

My nephew, Ben, and his partner got me all kinds of cool stuff including truffle salt and coffee beans from Zingerman’s.

They also got me the Food Writing 2014 which begins with a heart breaking introduction by Holly Hughes about the death of her brother and the food they ate on death watch. Excellent stuff.

Niece Emily and her hubby Jeremy got me Jam it, Pickle It, Cure It which is an amazing cookbook about making stuff like crackers instead of buying premade things.

So you can see I cleaned up this Christmas.