So many things happened for Christmas this year that it's hard to know how to tell it, and it will definitely take more than one post. This, today's post starts with our twelve days.
But first, a word from our sponsor: I really, really love Christmas!
I listen to Christmas music year-round. I love to see the Christmas decorations being put out in the stores in October—the pretty things just make me happy. I publish my ridiculous Christmas wish-list on November 1st. And I probably start anticipating my favorite holiday about the time school gets out for the year. I love Christmas!
That said, this Christmas season started out feeling a little bit stressful. To begin, with Thanksgiving being so late in the month of November, it seemed like Christmas was coming up fast! And I didn't how I would get gifts for my family; I was wracking my brain trying to think of things I could make for them that wouldn't cost a lot of time or cash, and attempting to think of things we could do together to make up for an empty Christmas tree. I needn't have worried.
On the First Day of Christmas Bruce spent the day and the night helping a friend of ours get to Wyoming for work. Al had hit a deer, and needed someone to take him on the six-hour trip. His wife, Jodie, was planning to do it, but we didn't want her to leave her family here (with her sister, but still...) and we especially didn't want her to make the drive with her two-month-old baby. So we were happy to send Bruce.
On the Second Day of Christmas my kids started talking to me about their homemade projects for their sibling gift exchange. Even though they drew names in August, and some of them had even decided what to make way back then, most of the Christmas projects started to happen in the last two weeks before Christmas.
On the Fourth Day of Christmas (the 16th) I found myself with a little cash in hand...enough to get at least one or two things for each of my kids. And so Lindsey and I were scrambling around to get some Christmas shopping done. (Thank goodness for Amazon Prime!)
By the Ninth Day of Christmas I got all my shopping—including groceries for Christmas Day—and a lot of my gift-wrapping almost finished. I very nearly did it! But on the Eleventh Day of Christmas (Monday, the 23rd) I realized that the Cool Whip never got picked up, and I wondered if there'd even be any left in the stores—same for marshmallows and milk chocolate chips. And I was still waiting for a couple of packages from Amazon.
Then I was looking for the milk chocolate chips, but there were none to be found. I was standing there looking, and listing off, "Semi-sweet, dark, 70% cacao, semi-sweet, mini-semi-sweet..." No milk chocolate. Then a lady a few carts behind me said, "I found some milk chocolate chips!" and handed them to her husband, who gave them to me, saying, "Merry Christmas!"
Another man helped me out by getting me some things that I couldn't reach from the back of the top shelf. "Merry Christmas!" he said.
Everyone was so cheerful and friendly, despite the last-minute shopping, and a store parking lot—and a store—with absolutely no empty spaces. Good will was abounding; people did, indeed, "seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely" —so much so that I wondered, Why can't it always be like this? All of that jolly, cordial helpfulness were things I really noticed this year that made Christmas marvelous. Like the reformed Scrooge, I'm sure it would be good for us to "honour Christmas in [our] heart[s], and try to keep it all the year."
Anyway, intermingled with the shopping and good cheer were the kids' Christmas projects. On the Eighth through Twelfth Days of Christmas I was literally being pulled in about five different directions whenever I was at home: cleaning house; preparing food; wrapping gifts; running from one room to another to help the kid who was calling for me. (Fortunately, there were only two sewing projects this year; that made things a lot easier.) Despite all the running, and my sore, sore feet, everyone was happy and getting things done in decent time.
Then there was Bruce.
On the Third Day of Christmas Bruce got this mysterious phone call (two Sundays before Christmas.) And then he just started acting kind of goofy. I would catch him grinning over nothing, or chortling to himself. He had something up his sleeve. He quickly confessed to me that he had a special Christmas gift for me; in fact, it was BIG, it would be delivered to our house, and I would get it early because there would be no way of wrapping or hiding it.
Well, it didn't turn out quite that way. On the Seventh Day of Christmas (Thursday, the 19th) Bruce ended up having to make a one hour drive in our van—minus all the seats—to go pick up this mysterious present. He took Michael and Ryan with him, and they told me how heavy and awkward it was to load into the van, and that it took five guys to do it.
Bruce drove around with my big gift in the van clear up until Christmas Day. And, to my credit, I will tell you that I did not peek even once! (Who had time for that?) Every time I caught him grinning, or looking like he was thinking about his favorite things, I'd ask, "What?" and he'd tell me how excited he was about my present, with a "tee-hee!"
So I started making guesses: A hot-tub?
Nope, but that would be great!
New double-ovens to replace my dinosaur ovens?
No.
Is it something I've ever mentioned wanting in the house before?
Nope!
Hmmm. A pool table? An air-hockey table? An organ? New kitchen cabinets? (Well, I have mentioned kitchen cabinets before...)
The answer was always a variation of, "No, but that's a great idea," or, "That would be cool."
So my funny, giddy husband made our Twelve Days a lot of fun.
And a lot more than that happened in those Twelve Days, but it's time to stop for now. You can continue to anticipate our Christmas over the first few days of the new year...
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