I moved to Bend, Oregon this fall and spent, unusually, this Christmas holiday with my family — cousins and an aunt. It was chaotic and dinner ran late. There were squabbles and fits, too much pre-dinner chip-eating and too much candied yam devouring. It was also a white Christmas — big snowflakes gently fell to the ground all day, even when the sun came out. It was beautiful & wonderful. I felt grateful to be a part of a Christmas at home in my own new town. This is what the holidays looked like for me — not on a train or a plane or at an airport, not with friends in a far away town, but at Home — enjoying even getting soaked in a fancy dress and heels on the bathroom floor.