Memories of Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010.  Is fading into memory already.  All the preparations that stress me to the limit were finished on time (or not).  Everything was fine once I decided that whatever I got done was "good enough."  No one ever notices all those little details I worry about, anyway.

Christmas began for us on Thursday.  Tim and I both worked our last day until 2011 and that night went to my company's Christmas party.  It was at a new venue this year, that was just beautiful with walls of floor to ceiling windows looking out over the snowy woods.  The food was excellent and while the place, being a Christian hall, didn't have a liquor license they did offer bottled beer and either red or white wine.  On top of our cash bonuses employees receive a gift each year.  This year it was an insulated lunchbox filled with goodies from Hickory Farms.

We received a HUGE surprise courtesy of Megan on Thursday.  She went to the mall with a friend to finish her Christmas shopping and ended up spending two hours talking with the Marine recruiter.  Everyone we know and that she knows has advised against the Marines (and that includes former Marines) as the way to go.  The Air Force National Guard seems to be the least likely to land a person at the front lines and the most likely to keep recruitment promises about job training and placement.  She says she isn't going to make any decisions right away and that she almost definitely wouldn't join the Marines, but......she is at the mall talking with them again.  I don't want her to go to war, but honestly, I think the military would be an excellent choice for her.  She is rather directionless and a good dose of discipline would not hurt.

Friday it was off to finish shopping for Tim and I.  We actually spent most of our time in AAA.  We had to renew our membership, but we also bought Matt a membership as a gift and I picked out a set of luggage for Matt and Ashlei.  AAA is going to stop selling it so we got a great deal.  It doesn't seem like much to do, but we were there nearly an hour and a half getting it done!  A trip to the sporting goods store netted a motion-activated infrared game camera for my mom and her husband.  One of their homes is located on the ridge with a pasture and wooded acreage.  We thought they'd get a kick out of it.  Next up was the toy store to score the final gifts for our granddaughter and Wally World to fill the stockings.  We squeezed in lunch at Red Lobster, too.

Bennie's eggrolls are to die for!

Christmas Eve found us, along with Megan and Tim's oldest sister at church.  It's been several years since we've gone to church on Christmas Eve and it never felt right without it, so we were very glad to have found a church and be able to attend this year.  Since the church began as a Filipino gathering and continues to have many Filipinos in attendance we still follow some of the traditions....the best of which is a meal following every service and Christmas Eve was no exception.  What a feast!

Back at home the rest of Christmas Eve was one marathon wrapping session.  At least I was smart this year and put everything in gift bags.  I cut and taped no paper, nor tied a single bow.

Megan woke up early Christmas morning because of her cold so we opened gifts earlier than I'd expected.  We scaled back some this year, but we each got exactly what we'd been hoping for.  A Blue-ray disc player for Tim (with lots of new movies), a compound bow for Megan (yes, that is what our little redneck princess wanted more than anything), and a Nook and iPod Shuffle for me.  Once gifts were open Tim and Megan went back to bed and I spent the morning cooking and getting things ready for dinner.  We had the three of us, my mom and her husband, Matt, Ashlei and Sora, and my aunt here.  John roasted the rump of the wild boar he shot last month and I made everything else.  Poor Sora, the timing worked out that we ate dinner and then opened gifts.  It was killing her.  Anyway, when we did get to the gifts, everyone was well pleased with what they got.

Sunday we made the trip to Pittsburgh for Sora's 2nd birthday.  I can't believe our little sweetie is two already!  She was definitely queen of the day and had a ball opening her gifts and playing with them....though she did wish Pappy and Daddy would have put her car together just a little faster.

So, all in all, Christmas 2010 was the best we've had in years.  We are all feeling very blessed.

***Got Megan's bow adjusted yesterday and she took it down the road to show to her best-friend's dad.  Well, she drew the string back and her friend was standing close by and sneezed.  When she sneezed she bumped Megan's arm and Megan released the string.  She has a lovely souvenir....