Blessed...

I just want to take a moment and be thankful for the blessing that is my roommate's sister.

My roommate and I both work for airlines. My roommate actually works in New York City and has an apartment there. So I most often feel like I live alone. No one is usually here when I am.

Yet somehow, this house always feels like a home. I can't tell you the number of times I have returned from a trip to find that the entire house has been cleaned from top to bottom. It smells fresh and is spotless and organized. This is no easy fete. My roommate and I both have a habit of rolling into town for a day at a time and dropping things by the door or on the counters or in the living room in our rush to get everything done we must in the limited amount of time we are here.

So far, the icing on the cake has been when I returned from my trip a week ago to find the entire house was decorated for Christmas. The tree was up in the living room. The railing on the stairs was wrapped in garland and Christmas lights. Christmas trinkets and figurines adorned every available surface throughout the entire house, including the bathroom! It really made me feel like I was home. It made the house feel less empty.

Tonight, I arrived home for the first time in a week to an extra special surprise. I walked into the dining room and turned on the light. Hanging off of the staircase railing were two stockings. One had my roommate's name on it, and the other had my name on it.

All of this is thanks to the hard work of my roommate's sister. She cleans our home. She decorates it for Christmas. And she was thoughtful enough to make a stocking that had my name on it - and hung it from the stairs.

Seriously. I wasn't expecting this. But I'm really thankful for it.