The Gift I Didn't Give
I ordered a Dean Martin Italian Love Songs cd from Amazon with the intention of giving it as a gift. But when it arrived, all the songs -- That's Amore, Volare, On an Evening in Roma, (Ma Come Bali) Bella Bimba, Mambo Italiano -- made me smile! So, yeah, Merry Christmas to me.
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| The gift I kept |
The Boots with the Surprise Price
Spotted, one pair of cognac boots. They were originally priced well over $100, but they were on sale and I just couldn't walk away. Except ... oh, except when the Macy's salesperson rang them up, he told me the price was $22. After Christmas Sale + Macy's One Day Sale + Door Buster Sale = Ridiculously Happy Me. (The truly amazing thing ... I was at the mall by accident and I didn't even know there was a sale. So you see, it was destiny.)
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| These boots are made for walking |
Game Night
Over the holidays, the two older boys played a lot of board games. A lot. Most were strategy games, but their favorite was this vintage football game from Joe's childhood.
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| Even the dice are vintage 70's |
Game Night with Mom
Occasionally (okay, once) they let me play with them. Settlers of Catan. Evidently I am a bad settler and would have never survived the first winter. But I can't help it that someone had a monopoly on wheat and the other someone wouldn't give me any bricks to build a furnace. And who needs roads, anyway?
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| The older boys, playing a game. I loved hearing them laugh, talk, and tease each other. |
What I Didn't Do
I didn't go to the TaxSlayer Bowl to watch Penn State vs. UGA. Shocking, I know. But we only had four tickets, and Timothy has never been to a bowl game, and so I let all the boys go to Florida for a boys' football weekend. Besides, I needed a break. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE having everyone home. I LOVE cooking and making things homey. But let's face it, while everyone has a Christmas vacation (the boys were off school, Joe took off work) I still did the same stuff I always do ... except more of it. Let me just say I had a glorious 36 hours at home. By myself. And I got some new boots.
My Favorite After Christmas Gift
This year I hosted Christmas Bunco, and one of my Bunco friends made these 12 Days of Christmas Calendars for all of us (12 boxes each -- there are 12 of us -- so you can see how this was a labor of love). Similar to the concept of an Advent Calendar, there was a box for each of the twelve days of Christmas beginning December 25. Inside each box was a laminated verse from the song "Twelve Days of Christmas", the Catholic meaning behind the verse, some chocolates, and a daily activity/kind deed.
It was such a lovely, thoughtful gift, and every morning I looked forward to opening a box.
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| I placed the 12 Days of Christmas boxes under my alpine trees |
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| A Catholic explanation of the song, "Twelve Days of Christmas" |
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| A verse, a good deed, and some chocolate |
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| After opening a box, I moved it from under the alpine tree and placed it near our manger scene in the kitchen. |
What We Celebrated
EVERYTHING: Christmas Bunco (I hosted), Our 25th wedding anniversary, Christmas with my family (we hosted), Joe's birthday, Christmas Eve, Christmas (lunch here with my parents), New Year's Eve, and Nicholas' birthday (his 21st).
1 comment:
Hey, it was our 25th also! Boy, it does feel good to have a week ahead with no party in it.
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