AuburnChick's Adventures

Yeah, yeah…I know.  I haven’t blogged in a few days.

What can I say?

It took awhile to pick up the pieces of my broken heart after unskillfully destroying the two knitted gifts I had tried to whisk out of thin air.

No, I’m just kidding.

Actually, I was out of town, visiting Grand Pooba, Coupon Queen, and Super Sis’s family (they live right around the corner from the in-laws).

I cannot believe how quickly the last five days went by!

But first, I have to share a picture with you…

That, my friends, is Chili Pie.  It was the fuel that energized me during my shopping trip for a gift to replace the slippers I had made for my mom.  Doesn’t the dish look divine?!  And no, I did not have to take any of the heartburn medicine I have in my cabinet.

Getting back to the present (or rather, the last few days)…

Christmas Eve was very busy.  I rose early and, for some reason, got the bug to get my hair cut.  I opened the Yellow Pages and let my fingers do the walking.

Or rather, I kept calling places until I found one that had an opening.

The gal did a FANTASTIC job with the mess of a head that I proudly claim as mine.

Then, I went shopping with Coupon Queen.

My mission:  Locate the perfect gift for Super Sis.

We went to a Christian bookstore, where I found this…

The journal is beautiful, and I loved the way the pen matched it.  I accepted the store’s offer to wrap it…

The Mr. returned to his parents’ house, children’s gifts in tow.

We all did our thing, shopping like mad people along with half of the city.

Christmas morning came a little too early.  Chicky and Rooster woke us at the bright hour of 5:30.

Ugh.

I will say, though, that opening presents in the dark is part of our tradition.  I have no idea what I’ll do when they are older, and we open presents after daylight.

Santa left this for Your’s Truly…

Oh yeah, Baby!  I won’t tell you how many cherries are left as of this writing…

Anyhoo…

The kids investigated their gifts.  Rooster seemed very happy with what he received.  It took a little time for Chicky to warm up to her main gift, a flip-style camcorder.

Super Sis’s family arrived at the house a bit later, and the fun began.

Our tradition is that everyone takes turns opening gifts.  We go from youngest to oldest.  It’s fun because we all get to admire each other’s gifts and properly thank the gift givers.

I was very surprised when I opened my gifts…a gift card to a local bead/gift store…and the following…

I was thrilled beyond belief.  Now I can wear something pretty showing off my “Jennifer Anniston hair,” while drinking hot chocolate!  All while wearing my fuzzy robe!

Woo Hoo!

I also got money socks.  Woo Hoo!

Yeah, life is good.

Super Sis opened her gift and seemed pleased.  She’s a private journal-er, unlike me who puts almost every thought out in full public view.

For fun, I pulled out the disaster of a journal cover I had made and asked her to guess what it was.

She was at a loss for words.

I’m so mean.  heehee

Everyone seemed quite pleased with their gifts (thanks all!!!).

We cleaned up and prepared for one more Christmas celebration…with my mom and her husband.

They arrived at my sister’s house in time for lunch.

Now, I’ve gotta tell you.  Mom is an interesting sort.  She always had lots of presents for Super Sis and me to open when we were children, and she has continued this tradition into adulthood.

This means that our children and husbands get to watch us open about ten presents each.

At least.

This year Mom was too tired to wrap them all individually, so she combined them into three packages.

We got our usual assortment of Christmas-themed items…dish towels, serving pieces, and candles.

Lots of candles.

In fact, candles seemed to be the theme for the year because everyone got candles.

Even the kids.

LOL

We’ll be able to burn candles every day until next Christmas.

She returned home after spending a few hours at my sister’s house, and we all separated to do our own thing (Super Sis took a nap after rising at 3am to play video games with my nephew Music Man).

The day after Christmas, we all got up and went shopping.

Everyone had gift cards and/or money to spend.

Now, you know I don’t enjoy shopping, but when someone gives me money, oh boy.  That’s a totally different thing!

Super Sis and I decided to hit the road together, and boy did we have fun!

The first stop was at the store where her family had given me the gift card.  I picked up a lovely pair of earrings…

We visited a bead store next door and ooohhhed and aaaahhhhed over the pretty items.  Props go out to those of you who make jewelry.  That store was a little intimidating.  Guess that’s why I knit and not bead.

The next stop was Target, where Super Sis picked up some wrapping paper and ribbon for next year.  I was such a good girl and didn’t spend a dime.  I wasn’t even tempted by the large 50% signs!

Next, we met everyone at Best Buy for a little electronic therapy.

Oh baby.  This was a huge store!  I started salivating when my feet passed through the glass doors.

You see, I was on a mission…

For something totally impractical.

However, much to my disgust, they were completely out!

Go figure.  Some nutty people decided to gift the exact item I wanted to their loved ones.

After a quick lunch at Chick fil A, Super Sis humored me and drove me back to Target.

I was on a mission…

To get something totally impractical.

It was something I debated about long and hard (an entire 12 hours).

I argued with myself.

Do I really need this.  Do I really want this.

Rooster assured me that I would love it.  So did my younger nephew, Dr. J.

So I did it.

I spent ALL of my Christmas money (and it was a lot) on this…

Yes, folks, I am such a nerd.

That is a Nintendo DSi.

Do you think I could be happy with the DS or the DS Lite?

Noooooo.

I had to have the fancy, smancy internet-capable thing-a-ma-bob.

And you know what?

I felt happy.  Even giddy.

Since Super Sis was driving, I opened the package in her car.

I made her smell the new smell of the manual.

Yeah, I’m a nerd.

I lovingly ran my hand over the game console.

I think I might have hugged it.

You see, I’ve been all about practical for many months now…ever since getting laid off from my law firm job.

I was wearing a pair of pants with a rip across one knee (I’ve been told that this is “the” style), and I could have used the money to buy a pair to replace them.

Did I?

Nope.

I threw out the word “practical.”

And it felt good.

It felt a little too good though.

I am now addicted to Super Mario Brothers (thanks Dr. J for letting me play wirelessly with against you, even though you beat the pants off me).

I want NEED this game.

LOL

Another Christmas over.  What a wonderful one it was though.

I sincerely hope that all of you made some wonderful memories with the ones you love.

More importantly, I hope that you threw out the word practical and bought something simply for the fun of it.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: christmas, nintendo dsi | Leave a comment »