I had a small Christmas brunch at my apartment this morning. It was a nice mixture of TV people who are all working Christmas and far away from their families (a producer from WAVY, a reporter from WAVY, a reporter/anchor from WTKR, and a co-worker from WVEC). We each brought our own little imperfect piece to the breakfast puzzle... an egg casserole that was little bit overdone, pancakes with a little too much flour, bagels and donuts, greasy bacon, and cookies that were falling apart.

We all gobbled up the food, listened to country music Christmas carols (I forced them to listen to them), told stories, and laughed. Before I knew it, hours had passed and it was time for me to go to work. So we all hugged, said goodbye, and headed to our different stations to put together very similar holiday broadcasts.

As I drove to work I couldn't help but feel lucky. No, it's not ideal to have to work on the holidays. Yes, I miss my family and our Christmas traditions a lot. But I'm very lucky to have good friends here in Hampton Roads that can brighten my day with lots of laughs and a few lumpy pancakes.