AuburnChick's Adventures

So, a few days late but better than never, here is a recap of Christmas happenings in the AuburnChick family…

First of all, let me say that this has been one of the most relaxing Christmas holidays that I’ve had in many years.

I’d lesson planned early the week before I got out of school, so that took away a lot of the pressure I’ve felt the last five years.

This is also the first year in six that I haven’t had alternative certification or reading certification classes hanging over my head.

Booya!

I’m discovering the joy that comes from priortizing life.  That’s another topic…one I’ll save for my New Year’s post, I think.

Anyhoo…as usual, I digress…

When I left my classroom the Friday before Christmas, it looked like this…

I was smiling…

Seeing this on my phone made me do the happy dance out of school…

Once I left, my brain began to decompress, and I found myself enjoying the shopping process.

I started off vacation the way I always do…with a nap…

I dressed the dogs in their finery, courtesy of Target…

Thank goodness the dogs were decorated.  The rest of the house wasn’t…my second year in a row of no Christmas tree or decorations.

#fail

I was able to help the Mr. with gift wrapping.  We worked out an assembly line system.  He wrapped…

I ribbonized…

After lots of last-minute errands, present-hiding, and packing, we were finally ready to leave…

Gambit was not happy…

Fortunately, we had a trusted young man who had agreed to love on my fur babies through Christmas, so I wasn’t worried.

What did make me nervous was the bad weather that tore through the South.

This is what we drove through…the entire way…to the Mr’s parents’ house…

Ugh.  The rain added almost an hour to our drive!  Praise to God that we got there safely, though!

We were greeted by Cali, Chicky’s pup…aka my grandpuppy.  I had not seen her in a year, so the reunion was sweet.

Christmas Eve was rainy, so I stayed inside, read, and relaxed…

Coupon Queen (the Mr.’s mom) had made vegetable soup…a delicious treat that I enjoyed for lunch…

I went to Super Sis’s house after lunch, and she very kindly acquiesced my request to remove the nail polish from my toe nails.  I was not allowed to take photos, though, on threat of my throat being strangled.  heehee

Later, we returned to the in-laws’ house and ate a delicious Christmas dinner before heading to church for the Christmas Eve service…so moving…especially at the end when we lit candles…

Later that evening, the Mr., Chicky, Rooster, and I spent a few minutes exchanging gifts.  Chicky and Rooster had gotten their gifts during our cruise…watches for both of them…

Still, we managed to surprise them with a few things.

Chicky bought me a dress (no photo, I’m afraid), and Rooster bought me two seasons of Downton Abbey…

The Mr. bought me a few tops from American Eagle and some other goodies.

My new camera, the one I took on our cruise, was my main gift…

Rooster and I surprised the Mr. with a Bo Jackson jersey (we’ll get it framed later)…

It was a good time of sweet fellowship that we are rarely afforded now that the kids are grown up.

Before I knew it, the time had come to say goodnight so that Santa could do his thing…

Chicky had left her stocking at her house, so Santa had to fill a hat instead.  Cali had to check out the goodies first, though…

After heading to bed, I was unable to sleep.

I reluctantly got out of bed in the wee hours of Christmas morning to be surprised by this Ruzzle game invitation…

I guess Santa’s sleigh has a navigation system that actually allows him to fly and play games simultaneously.

🙂

For the record, I beat him!

:::thumbs up::

After getting dressed and all fixed up, I waited on sister dear…

I swear, but Super Sis’s family took forever to arrive.  Finally, though, they did, and we took family photos.

Sorry, folks, but they are blog-shy.

🙂

We quickly commenced with the gift-opening, beginning, as usual, with the youngest member.

I love the way we open presents because 1) It takes longer and 2) We get to ooohhh and ahhhh over each person’s gift.

Round and round we went.

Much laughter was to be had because every gift had its own story.

My gift from Super Sis and family was no exception.

You see, I’d asked for a new wallet and was happy to discover that Super Sis’s crew had gotten me one.

After opening my gift, she said, “But wait, there’s more.”  She then pulled a wrapped gift from behind her.

I was so excited because I thought I was getting ANOTHER present!

I opened it, and it was a SECOND wallet.

To my chagrin, she explained that I was not hearing the word “more” but the word “or.” In other words, I had to make a choice because she’d seen several she liked.

Then, she pulled another package from thin air.

Yes, folks, it was a third wallet.

For the record, I chose the blue/green one.  I love it!

The Mr.’s parents gave me a freshwater pearl bracelet that has silvery bling on it…

They also gave me “Boot Loot…”

I used it, the next day, to purchase these (their VISA gift card helped too!)…

We had a lot of fun watching the guys open their Dockers Auburn pants…

If you were a male in the family, you got a pair of these.  heehee

Super Sis’s family gave Chicky these slippers…too cute…a bonus gift to accompany the gift card they’d purchased…

As always, the gift-opening aftermath wasn’t pretty…

So much laughter and love was exchanged as each present was opened.

I am always reminded how blessed I am…doubly so because my sister married the Mr’s brother, so we can ALL spend Christmas together.

But wait…the trip wasn’t over!

You see, although Chicky left on Christmas night (BOO!!!), we still had post-Christmas shopping to do!  I woke up and took this selfie, of course…

The Mr. wanted to take me to the mall to buy me new pants at Express, where Chicky had gotten some that she’d been wearing during her visit.

Let me just say that I LOVE this store!  Their pants have Short options, so petite people like me can find things to fit!  I walked out, after their 50% sale, with FOUR pairs of pants/blue jeans!!!

In fact, it was a productive day, shopping-wise!

It was a wonderful Christmas and the least amount of drama to date.

With the kids getting older, the activity level has slowed a bit, which is fine for my tired self.  It’s refreshing to just enjoy life…to take joy in the pretty lights and sweet music…to savor sweet moments with family members who you don’t get to see very often.

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