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I feel like I've been baking cookies and making candy for the past month. I wanted to get all of my baking done here before I drove to Kentucky to see my family. This way..I can just enjoy being with them and not have to worry about doing all of Mom's baking. She has always gone all out for the holidays ...but Mom is 78 now...and I hate to see her wear herself down trying to do everything for everyone. So..now my house smells wonderful and I have umpteen tins of goodies on the sideboard...but now..I also have umpteen loads of laundry that need to be thrown in the washer. I tend to have a one track mind.

What's everyone else baking and doing for the season?

Mom's never give up baking and cooking for certain holidays, as long as they can walk into or stand in a kitchen.

They also have strong thoughts about decorating and tradition. My wife, three times a mother, just finished placing every single one of her (our) many ornaments on the tree. She can tell you where every single one came from, or from who, starting with those her mom had, ones she acquired as a little girl, those we acquired at our first married Christmas, those made by each of our daughters from age 4 or 5 up, those we acquired living in the U.S., England, and Canada, and those given to us as gifts by many people.

We'll be home together this year. Daughters are all tied up with commitments.