On the seventh day of Christmas

On the seventh day of Christmas, the Good Lord gave to me...
...seven book group buddies
...six hours of sleep
...five Messiah solos (and one duet)
...four Mighty Oakes
...three Hallelujah cheers
...two chemo drugs
...and an MRI with good news we could see!

Today was our annual book group Christmas party, which is always a real treat! I had to miss it last year, and I didn't know if I'd survive to see this year's party, so I was really glad to be there.

We have the best book group, and the only things we really have in common are that we go to the same church, and we like to be in a book group. (And we all love the annual Christmas party.) Beyond that, there is diversity in everything from life stage and situation to even the types of books that we like to read. It makes for great book selections and discussions, and it has also formed some wonderful friendships.

Our annual Christmas party is usually hosted by the same person. We always keep it a simple affair: bring something to eat, and bring a wrapped book for the book exchange. We sit around the table and snack and gab, and we play the gift exchange game where we each get to choose a book in turn, and we can choose to "steal" one that has already been selected and opened, or we can choose a new one from the pile. We also have to guess who brought the book.

Unlike our other monthly meetings, this is the one meeting each year where we don't actually have an assigned book to read and discuss. The conversation is usually just really fun and random. This time it ended up with each of the married women in the group sharing the story of how they met and married their husband. I always love those stories - I love sharing my own, and I am always fascinated to hear how other couples came to be. It was a lot of fun, and before we knew it, we had used up the evening and then some.

The mailing list for our group is actually quite large, and it continues to grow, which makes it even more fun. But tonight there were eight of us gabbing and snacking and opening books around the table. Me...and seven of my book group buddies on this seventh day of Christmas.