Christmas is over!

Yah! Christmas is over. I am back at work today after a much needed break. I have been trying to catch up on everyone's blog and read your stories of Christmas today. My Christmas was wonderful. I don't know that I ever really got into the spirit, but the gifts were wonderful. I know that is not what Christmas is all about, but it sure does help.

I was off on Christmas Eve and I woke up early to prepare the goodies that I had to take to my sister's house that afternoon. Five hours later I was in the shower getting ready for the Christmas eve party at my sister's. When we finally arrived my hubby disappeared to the den to watch football with the other men and I took my place in the kitchen helping my sister finish up her cooking and get all the food arranged. We always have a smorgasboard of finger foods on Christmas eve. Sausage balls, cookies, divinity, butterscotch haystacks, cheese balls and crackers, you get the picture. After I ate 2 plates of food (hey, I was really hungry), we settled in to the den to open gifts. My family is not a rich bunch of people by any means, so there were not many gifts and most of them were for my neices, which was fine with me. I did get a new pair of earrings, a necklace, and a pin from my sister. That was the extent of my gifts there. My mom did not buy Christmas gifts this year because she had foot surgery a month ago and has been off work without pay and my other 2 sisters are just sorry as hell and did not get anyone anything. I really should not have gotten them anything, but I did. Not anything too good, just a shirt, but still it was something for them to open. My sorry sisters made out better than me and my oldest sister. Next year it will be framed pictures of me all around! I better start posing!

Christmas at my house was fun. We got to pick up our child at 5 from her mom's and then we went home to see what Santa had left for her. He left her so much stuff and what he did not leave for her we got her. She got tons of Barbie stuff. Have you seen the Grandparent Barbie's? We have grey hair and wrinkles, they are adorable. She got a huge stuffed dog, twin baby dolls, play food, lots of other stuff. When she finally looked at everything that Santa brought her, we all went in to the other room to open our gifts from each other. I got a new poncho, jewelry, a boy baby in a carrier (more on that later), some sweaters, a sweat shirt that has Grumpy Bear from the Care Bears on it and it says "Dear Santa, I've been Grumpy!". I also got a charm bracelet and some charms. My favorite gift was from my child and it is a charm that has 2 hearts and one heart says mother and the other one says daughter. I just started crying! It was so sweet. I think of her as my daughter, but I have never and will never try to replace her mother. My husband said she picked it out all by herself and she looked at him and asked if she could get it because I am like her mom and sometimes she thinks of me like her mom. Is that not just the sweetest thing that a step-child can say to you?

After all the gift opening at our house it was time to head to the in-laws for dinner and more gifts. My hubby's family is not rich either, but they are shop-a-holics. My mother-in-law had already told me that she had bought more stuff for me than she did for anyone else and she finally had to write at the bottom of my list of things that she had bought me, "This has got to stop!" I was very excited about Christmas there. This would be the first Christmas with them when they really knew me and I truly felt like a part of the family. I wish I had a picture of what the living room looked like before we started opening gifts. There were gifts everywhere! So many gifts that it looked like the shop-a-holics Christmas party. My hubby's mom's family were mostly all there and with them came more gifts. It was awesome. My mother-in-law has decorating in her blood so all of her gifts had beig beautiful ribbon and hand tied bows on them. Finally we started handing out gifts. It took 4 people to give out all the gifts. I was one of the four. My presents were all piling up on the floor and I could hardly wait to open them. Everyone else was ooing and ahhing over their gifts. I am always happy when people like the gifts that we get them. I usually put a lot of thought into gift giving. We were done handing out gifts, so I sat down in front of my mountian of gifts and my child came over and helped me open them. I got new black boots, a jacket, shirts, pajamas, jewelry, a cookie jar, a scarf, Burt's Bees lip balm, a wallet, socks, dishes, a hand painted vase. I can't remember what else, but I assure you I liked it. I also got a huge stocking full of stuff like nail polish, a watch, etc. I love my hubby's family, not just because they give good gifts but because they are a great family. We stayed at their house until it started sleeting. Yes, sleeting in middle Georgia on Christmas. I could not believe my eyes. It is the closest thing that we have had to snow on Christmas ever!