It seems I can no longer stand next to my sister in the Christmas Eve service at church and sing "Angels We Have Heard On High." Every time we get to the drawn-out "Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria," we break up in laughter, the result of some silliness some years back. It might have been when I would shake the hymnal when holding it, making it hard for her to read, or it could have been that time we relived the Dropped Triangle Incident from one year with another friend of ours. This year, we had 10 people there with the relatives down from Maine and Mom sat in the pew in front of us. That didn't stop her from turning to look back at my sister and me, and the three of us would immediately start chuckling. But if you can't have fun at the Christmas Eve service, when can you?

Times have changed in that church, that's for sure. It's the one I've been going to all my life, but I rarely make it now. There's a website, the advent candles are lit using one of those automatic flame things and the scripture readings about the birth of Jesus are read from the newer version of the Bible that puts everything into everyday words rather than the "thous" and "betrotheds" and "the time came for her to be delivered."

We also had a guest priest give the Christmas message. In my lifetime, the church has had four pastors, with various guests coming in on Sundays. This one was a Sean Connery look-a-like whose daughter is in the choir. He didn't speak like Connery, but I threw out some impressions here and there. His message was an entertaining one -- he spoke of those letters people insert with their Christmas cards each year, then read from one he allegedly got just that morning. It was from the inn keeper at that Bethlehem inn. He wanted to set the record straight (basically, Bethlehem only had two inns, and with everyone in town for the census, it's no wonder there was no room. Joseph should've called ahead for reservations).

But it was a good holiday, filled with food and relaxation and a Christmas night viewing of Sideways for Casey and me -- though I never did figure out why it was called that. I'm sure I'll have an e-mail or a comment or a call from her explaining it. The gifting was fun with 10 people and a dog in my parents' living room, and with the breakfast break my mom adores so much, we dragged it out over a few hours. We've now got The Sims 2, however, so those hopes I had of reading 33 new books by the end of my 1001 days are looking really slim.