Tis the day before Christmas, and all through the House (and Senate), not a creature is stirring - they've all gone home. I am going home too, visiting my parents (and some siblings) and having the traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Last year the weather and the leftover stress of moving was too much for the trip, so we stayed home. It was a little bitter-sweet: we got to have the magic all to ourselves, but I knew my mother was disappointed.

This year we will be there. The last time we did this, we gamely tried to cook dinner in my parents' kitchen with my germophobe vegan brother micro-managing everything. It was a nightmare.

This year, we have not been asked to assist with the cooking (at least not yet), so hopefully we can dodge that bullet. What we likely won't dodge is one of my brothers relating some story about my ex-wife. It's almost like a drinking game at this point.

Still - one more year I get to relive a tiny moment from my childhood, that little bit of tradition that strings the passing years together like a chain of popcorn on the tree (NOT a tradition in our family, btw). These are the moments we always look back on through misty glasses and remember fondly, even when the reality sometimes is a bit less rosey.

Another tradition I look forward to is the Blogger Joe we do here on the blog. It's a moment of special with friends at that time of year when those moments are the best gifts we can hope for. Sure there's always someone that doesn't get their gift in time, and someone always has to work, but it's still a moment we all come together to do something other than bitch about the state of our government.

So here's to the traditions that keep the past close, and the future closer.