Christmas past

 

 I think this picture is from 1994 ~ when I trimmed it to fit in a small frame, I cut off the last number of the 199_.  I remember Adam was so excited to have a St. Louis Blues jacket like Scott's.  Meredith (in the middle) looks a bit hypnotized but I'm sure she was going on no sleep and a boatload of sugar, which is pretty much how I function every day so no biggie.

Pop on over to Alicia's blog, More Than Words, for more Friday Photo Flashbacks and I hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

A Sweet Surprise

For someone like me, who dislikes shopping, Amazon.com is my best friend around the holidays.  It's like shopping in my living room, they deliver it for free, and if I want them to wrap it then they'll do that too.  I'm not completely hopeless, however, and do wrap my own gifts...usually.  And no, this isn't a plug for Amazon - I'm just saying that because boxes are being delivered here pretty much lately.  Yesterday, however, one box looked a little different and I recognized the return address - a friend of mine whom I knew was about to make my day a bit merrier.

Let me start by saying that I love to make gifts, but this year (very similar to the last ten couple years or so) time has gotten away from me and I've joined the all-store-bought-gifts crowd.  That's OK, we all understand one another and we're semi-fine with it.  Well, this was the MOST creative gift and not only was it home-made but she made up the entire story herself!!  

A Christmas story with candy*,

by Beth's friend, who shall remain nameless but you can view her blog by clicking here

*I put the name of the candy she used in (red, like this)

I wanted to spend a healthy (100 Grand) for your Christmas gift.  But when I checked it had all slipped through my (Butterfinger) and there was now (Zero) available.  So I called on my friends whom I consider to be real (Smarties) to help brainstorm for a nice gift.

(Clark) opened the meeting by suggesting we send you a ticket to a (Symphony) on (5th Avenue) or a trip to (Mars) and the (Milky Way).  The entire room erupted in (Snickers) at that suggestion.  (Mike and Ike) got up and said they were torn (Twix) (Hot Tamales), (Cookie Dough bites), and (Juicy Fruit). No one seemed enthused about that idea either so the...

(3 Musketeers) suggested I send a (Whatchamacallit) or a (Thingamajig).  (Mr. Goodbar) got up and called everyone a bunch of (Nerds) that the perfect gift would be a fluffy little (Kit Kat) or a book filled with (Cow Tales).  Tired from all the fuss I decided to simply wish you lots of (Almond Joy).. 

Everything was neatly taped to a large white towel (which I hope she doesn't want back because I love white towels).  I'm still impressed that even over a long distance, she could sense my NEED for chocolate and it arrived on a day that I couldn't have used it more!  Of course I cried for my lack of planning this year, my feelings of being overwhelmed by several things lately, and my kids were getting on my nerves I wasn't particularly full of the holiday spirit at the moment.  I rarely get like that around the holidays, believe it or not, because I don't let all the hype get to me.  Yesterday I was human though and it did. 

It did reinforce to me how meaningful gifts are that come from the heart, are well thought out, and take a bit of time and effort. Hopefully my friend will plan a bit more for me next year because that trip to Mars or the Milky Way sounds pretty appealing at the moment!  My sugar-induced coma will work just fine for now, however ~ I'm glad she understands me.  

OK, now for those Christmas cards that are sitting on my table...

My favorite doll...

It's been WEEKS since I've done a blog post and I just noticed that I've got 200 followers now, which I think calls for a post-Christmas giveaway!  If it falls below 200 before then, well then we're STILL going to have a giveaway because that's how we roll around here.  (I guess by "we" I just mean my imaginary staff and I.)  Since we've all got halls to deck and shopping to start do, I'll wait until the Monday after Christmas.  

When I try and catch up with blogging, for some reason Friday is the day I do it.  For one thing, I not-so-long-ago discovered that pictures from my childhood DO exist.  For another, I work in the afternoons on Fridays so I'm home in the morning to do it.  After the holidays (I will continue to use that excuse until I can't anymore), my hope is to go back to regular blogging, but then again I said last year after the holidays I'd lose 20 lbs. and that hasn't happened yet, so we'll all just chug along and hope for the best.

So without further ado, here is the Christmas that I got my beloved Susie doll.  I still have her and her stroller, although the stroller is falling apart a bit.  I pulled out most of Susie's eyelashes for whatever reason (we won't ask Freud) but she still closes her eyes when she's put in her crib.  I remember taking her for walks on the sidewalk and people thinking it was a real baby because I'd have her tucked in so just her head peeped out.  I did a post about Susie last year but since this is December, I thought a picture of when I got her for Christmas would be fun.

Please try not to ruin your retina by staring at the couch behind me.  Yowza.

I would say hop on over to Alicia's blog, More Than Words, for more Friday Photo Flashback, but I think she took a time out this week from flashbacks and there's a picture of the best looking burger I've ever seen.  Hop on over there anyway because she's fun and her blog is adorable.