I have spent far too much time today with cold feet. Not the metaphorical kind. The kind of cold feet that occur when your socks are wet or your boots are old or the snow is deep or just because the temperature refuses to make it into the teens and instead stubbornly hovers at 12 degrees Farenheit all day.

Maybe it was the cold feet or maybe it was the excessive amount of smoky incense used at church this morning. Or possibly it was the elderly woman hovering near the table of silk flower arrangements at the bazaar at the social hour after Mass, who leaned in for a hug to whisper in my ear about AJ, �I can see him being a priest.� Maybe she had a deadly disease. Most likely, though, I�m being punished for laughing at her remark (although I tried to hold it in until we were out of earshot) with what feels like a dreadful cold that has every intention of turning into bronchitis. I am clearly going to hell.

In fairness to the elderly woman, AJ was particularly angelic today. And in his gray wool duffle coat, sadly a shade too small, and his red hat with the earflaps, he looks as if he�s stepped out of a 1950s era ad for a Flexible Flyer sled. I was sufficiently amused by the whole scene that I bought AJ a $1 bag of iced Christmas cookies at an adjacent table and let him devour them all, which he did with great gusto, starting with the head of the snowman.

We drove all the way into the city to hear first Advent Mass at one of the churches at which I used to sing occasionally. The traditional processional hymn for first Advent � �Veni, veni Emmanuel� is perhaps my favorite hymn of the entire church year. Christmas can�t begin without it. But alas, they did not sing it this morning, and so we were forced to sing it in the car on the way home, half in English, half in Latin, and pretty much entirely out of tune.

After a brief sojourn on North Michigan Avenue to see some Christmas decorations, we returned home where we inhaled some lunch. Then AJ and I headed for Main Street for the annual Christmas parade. I may have missed �Veni Emmanuel,� but there is pretty much nothing cuter than a pick-up truck full of Brownie scouts in snowsuits singing �Jingle Bells.� We watched for a while and AJ picked up piles of candy hurled from the paraders. We walked around the carnival, but found that all the good things � giant slides and climbing walls � required the removal of one�s shoes. And as keen as AJ was to go down the slide, he quite sensibly declined to walk around in his stocking feet in 12-degree weather. So we headed home instead for hot chocolate, after which we began to decorate the house. We pulled out our red swags of garland for the front hall and my husband dragged the ladder up from the basement and began looping greenery and lights around the front porch. A wreath now hangs on the front door with a bow AJ helped me to put on. We finished our work as the great full moon was rising over the snow-covered roof. We all stood back to admire our handiwork by the light of the moon. Steam was rising from our chimney. The lights sparkled. The warm red glow of the kitchen shone through the window over the door and we all thought, �We are home.�

3 people said it like they meant it