And so this is Christmas ...

I always say that I don't have time to be sick, so Fate decided to give me a cold on the night of Christmas eve that would suck the life out of me on the first official day of my vacation. Since I'm no longer a kid, Christmas day is actually a fair amount of work with the cleaning and cooking and dividing of leftovers and sorting presents and driving to Richmond and back in one day. This is the first year that we literally ran out of time and my family had to exchange gifts tonight instead of on Christmas evening since we didn't start eating Christmas dinner until 9:30pm. My oldest brother got the flu on Christmas eve as well (I suppose to give me perspective on my measly cold in that I could at least keep food down if a bit uninspired to eat it). So we all just made the best of it.

I don't mean that to sound like we didn't all have a good time. I got great presents from Rich's family and everyone was reasonably pleasant with no meltdowns. My aunt Sissy came to eat dinner with us for Christmas night and was unflappable in the face of a ridiculously late dinnertime as long as she had wine, appetizers and good company to keep her busy. The Puddin' and I have a beautiful Christmas tree lit up and surrounded by well thought out gifts both given and received with love. I blame the snot in my head for my sense of ennui.

I think this is one of the few times that writing isn't making me feel better. It's not so much that I'm unhappy; I think I'm just cranky and sickly. Again, I blame the snot. I must admit, though, that getting up this morning and finding evidence of Christmas kitty mischief did amuse me amidst the stuffy head and scratchy throat.

Stanley and I prep for Christmas

Nick and Lara may never let us keep Stanley again.

I've been out shopping today (and buying dog costumes at Target)! I've gotta tell you, it's been a really pleasant shopping experience. They had every cash register open at Barnes & Noble and Bed Bath & Beyond. Every shopper, driver and store employee has been considerate and helpful. I'm a little unnerved by the whole thing but pleasantly surprised.

I think I'm finally done with shopping for the 25th unless something catches my eye in the next 24 hours. I have been wandering in stores just throwing stuff in the basket that I like and figuring I'll resort everything once I get home. I do this every year and end up with a box of left over goodies that become presents throughout the year. I mean, who doesn't need a dog elf costume?

So worried and now so excited!

It's been a long time and I'm not even going to try to recap all that's been going on. It's been a long two weeks but the good news is it's almost Christmas and I'm in a very fine mood. Two weeks ago or so, I was really worried about Christmas in general. I need to make a note of this because I'm sure I'll do this again next year. I was convinced that Christmas would be cancelled because I couldn't find anything to get the Puddin' that was not cheesy, stupid and/or ugly. All the things I could think of that he really needs I couldn't get for him. I can't pick out a truck cap for him. I can't pick out goalie pads. Making matters "worse" was Rich's enthusiasm over the super cool presents he had gotten for me. So I was officially the World's Worst Girlfriend because I couldn't think of a thing I wanted to get him. He was going to end up with socks and Vise Grips.

Since then, I have had two fine ideas. One is a bit more complicated than the other, but they both are pretty cool. The most recent gift to arrive is the kind where you wish Christmas was tomorrow just so you could hand it over and share just how freakin' neato it is. So I'm back in the spirit of things for the moment. I promise to share details of all the cool gifts in a few days so as not to spoil any surprises.

We're still not done with our shopping, but it helps that we do our holiday celebrating in waves where we give out office gifts first, then family gifts and then gifts to friends a few weeks after Christmas. I'm all in favor of this plan because it helps keep the idea of Little Christmas/12th Night going and keeps the two of us from burning out.

I think tomorrow will be a day of some last minute shopping and a TON of gift wrapping. Mom came over to help me wrap all the gifts for our office mates last week and it was a fine few hours of mother/daughter quality time. Mom always says that "when she retires" she wants to work as a gift wrapper in a department store. She really does have a talent for it and I meant to take a photo of all 14 gifts that were wrapped in different paper with fancy handmade bows on them. Perhaps she'll come help me again after Christmas for all our 12th Night gifts.

I'll update more later but for now, you can enjoy a goofy picture of Stanley and an equally entertaining picture of Emily expressing her displeasure with our holiday house guest.