AuburnChick's Adventures

Wow!  This is the longest I’ve gone without blogging in quite a while!

When last I posted, I was mourning the loss of my high school English teacher.  I am so thankful for this blog and the outlet it provides.  I felt a lot better afterward and proceeded to the holiday festivities.  Please continue to keep Mrs. Warr’s family in your prayers.

Meanwhile, Christmas came and went.

Before we went out of town, we had our “family” Christmas at home.  Some years we do this before the trip; other years we wait until we get home.  Rooster had begged and moped for several days, so I finally gave in.

This was the first year that the dogs have been home while we opened gifts.  Pele was very confused about what was going on…

He finally decided to relax and took a nap on my leg…

As per the AuburnChick custom, we all take turns opening one gift, beginning with the youngest and going from there in age order.

The kids seemed pleased with their gifts…Auburn book bags, Auburn t-shirts, electronic toothbrushes (which I got for $3.50 after a big sale, huge coupons, and CVS extra care bucks), gift cards, and movies.  Santa would be bringing the big gifts.

Here’s what I got…

 

And part of the aftermath…

The tree looked mighty empty when we were finished…

The next morning, the pet shuttle came for the dogs…

Door-to-door pick-up service is offered by the place that boards my dogs, for a fee, of course.  I had recently seen coupons on the business’s web site.  One of the coupons was 1/2 off of pick-up.  We figured it was worth the cost once we factored in the time and gas it would take Chicky and me to drive two cars (because Molly and Aubie do not get along and must be transported separately).  Plus, we would have had to get the car cleaned from the hair afterward.  So, it was a great deal.

The inside of the bus has been converted and contains crates.  It’s really quite neat.

So, I waved the dogs goodbye, and we headed to Alabama to spend a few hours with the Mr.’s 95 year old grandmother.  After that, we made our way to Coupon Queen and Grand Pooba’s house, where we spent the rest of the holidays.

I got my hair cut on Christmas Eve.  Last year I spontaneously decided to get my hair cut on Christmas Eve.  After calling several places in the yellow pages, I landed on one that had an opening.  The girl did such a great job that I kept her card and called her back this year.  I had not had my hair cut since last Christmas Eve.  I was surprised to discover that my hair was in great shape.  She only cut three inches off, and it looks really good, if I don’t say so myself.

I got back to the house in time to sit down and eat Christmas dinner…

 

We decided to attend the church’s 2pm service.  It was really nice because it wasn’t very full, and we got to sing traditional carols.

After leaving there, we were able to do some last-minute shopping…another tradition.

And then it was time for Santa to come…

Rooster set his alarm for 6am, and he excitedly woke up the rest of the family.

They made their way downstairs to find this…

 

After they looked through their gifts, we called Super Sis and Super D to let them know that it was time for them to come over.  Their kids wake up at o’dark thirty, so they had already been awake for a couple of hours.

Chicky and I ran to straighten our hair.  She quickly laid claim to the downstairs bathroom, and the Mr. took the upstairs one.  So, I grabbed my mirror and, using my handy-dandy quick-thinking brain, set my mirror between the cabinet handles…

Aren’t I smart?

After beautifying ourselves, we were ready for the gift opening!

I was pleased to discover that I had the largest gift…

Here’s what was inside…

You have no idea how happy I was to see this.  My old mixer went up in smoke…literally (it really did smoke when the engine burned up) before Thanksgiving.  I’d had it almost twenty years, so it was past time to replace it.

Super Sis and her family gave me an Old Navy gift card (which I spent today and got a $27 sweater for $11) and this mug…

 

I laughed when I saw what it said because I recently told my ninth grade class that I am the Queen, and the classroom is my kingdom.  They are mere underlings ready to do my bid and call.

heehee

Super Sis and family have quite the sense of humor, as evidenced by the gifts they gave the Mr. and Rooster…

They gave each their own respective shirts, which Super D, in his artistic way, painted on.  My sister and her hubby are going to Auburn to watch the BCS Championship game.  In case you haven’t heard, my team is playing for a national championship.  WAR EAGLE!

Sister and hubby are going to buy t-shirts when they are there.

We all took turns opening gifts…youngest Chick to oldest.

Super Sis liked the pajamas I picked out for her…

The aftermath, as always, was something to behold…

Christmas Day is a busy one for us.  After opening presents at Coupon Queen and Grand Pooba’s house, my family heads over to Super Sis’s house to do Christmas with our mom.

This is never easy for me.  My mom and I have issues…with each other and within ourselves.  Put those issues together, and it does not make for a very comfortable time together.

Before she got there (she drives over from her house, which is a couple of hours away), I helped my sister put stuff on the table…

I did a pretty good job rolling up the meat and setting out the cheese, but I spilled half of one bowl of potato salad.  Oh yeah, but there was still plenty of food left.

Then, my mom arrived.  We ate and then sat down to open presents.

Gracie, Super Sis’s dog, got to open the first present…

She loved her new toy and had the legs separated from the body in about ten minutes flat.

The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur of tears and hurt feelings.  I don’t play nice sometimes…especially when I get my feelings hurt.

Mom left, I cried more, everyone tiptoed around me to help me find my bearings, and I ended the evening watching Iron Man 2 with Rooster on his new TV.

He is an incredibly sweet child and very sensitive to my feelings.  He even let me warm up my feet by covering them with his jacket.

That’s the spirit of Christmas, eh?

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: christmas |