Our December has been very busy so far, and I think it will continue to be very full. It started (on the first of the month, even) with the Athens Christmas Parade. Baby Tanya (who will be 23 on the 24th) is Miss Merry Christmas for her school, Athens State University. She was a bit overwhelmed by winning and then discovering that fulfilling her responsibilities for the title and finals overlap quite a bit, but she is honored and the credit to the bookstore will help with textbooks next semester. Anyway, the parade was quite the experience, and if I were to offer suggestions for planning it next year, it would be to consult a train schedule. The parade started late and was interrupted by trains passing through town. We were very cold by the end, and my mom and Bruce are forever in my debt for the extra handknits I shoved in my bag as we headed out the door, or they might not be thawed out yet. Still, it was great to be able to get out and support her, and we cheered enough to let her know they were there, but not loud enough to embarrass her.
Getting a good photo just was not an option for me. If there are settings I could have used on my camera that would have helped, I do not know which I should have used. The headlights, streetlights, and traffic lights all shone in from different directions, and the pictures I took ranged from terrible to what he have here.
Still, the picture is special to us for reasons besides showing Tanya in the parade. In the background, you will see a courthouse, and outside it, a statue. That is where Bruce and I got married.
