I am feeling so happy right now…just thinking about the real meaning of Christmas…being with my loved ones and feeling oh, so grateful, for my family and friends.
The above photo is from my local library and it evoked in me a feeling of being grateful for being part of an international community where we celebrate each and all of us.
Frankly, sometimes I equate Christmas with spending money and stress, but if I put that thought aside, and think about enjoying my coffee, my breakfast, my moments with my friends and family, then the paradigm changes instantly.
It feels great to be alive, to be looking forward to visiting with my family, and to just being…happy.
Your Happy Contessa
Noury's Creative World... 
I wonder if we can some day swap monetary gifts for the most precious of all gifts – the gift of time with each other. Perhaps send a “memory” instead of a “gift” – We are trying to work out way backwards to simpler times. Handmade, a recycled “gift” of a grandparent or other relative – the written word, dinner and conversation. Let’s slow it down is my motto right now. It probably won’t happen until after Melissa’s and Milagros’s weddings but it will happen for sure. You are in my thoughts and heart every day.
That will be so valuable…sharing of our most precious commodities…our time and our presence. I am so looking forward to seeing you and Richard next July and then again in September. Hope all is well. Think of you when I hit the pavement almost every day. Miss my walking buddy.