Time Flies When You're Having Fun
The presents are wrapped. The stockings are hung. The house is lit with candles in all the windows. The tree decorated to the hilt with my little angel on the top holding her light. The nativity is prominent as always and this year with lights over the stable. My Christmas village is now up with a few additions this year. My husband even hung out those pretty white icicle lights outside. I wanted to see if the boys even noticed. Probably not.
I'm not too sure why I go all out like this. I'm not so sure they really care, being guys and all. As long as they are fed with a football game turned on in the background and a movie or two, they're happy. I'm sure the lights and Christmas Village doesn't excite them too much. I knew I should have had girls.
One of the ladies in one of my studies this week when asked if her kids helped decorate said the girls do but her one boy doesn't. I knew it. Girls like to do these types of things. Boys yawn and make promises about another day.
When they were younger my boys like to help out, but now it's too much of a chore. Usually I can get them to lug up my heavy, getting heavier every year, cardboard and rubbermaid boxes filled with what seems like just put away decorations from last year. Does it seem like it's coming quicker and quicker every year?
Good grief, and then there's all the wrapping. There's absolutely NO WAY I'm going to ask any male in my household to wrap a gift. David came up tonight from his room, with his gifts all wrapped.......in NEWSPAPER! Yes, that's how he likes to wrap gifts. He's done this for many years. At least when he was little it was the comic page. Now anything will do. I used to think it was cute. And the tape....let's not talk about how much tape he uses. Let me just say I really stock up after the back to school sales are over when you can get tape 5/1.00. I do this especially for David. Tape away. Have fun.
I will have two of the boys and one of their girlfriends for Christmas. One boy is staying two weeks and another just a week. So it will be fun and much more hectic with a houseful than it's been the last several months with just the two of us. But we will, of course, miss our middle son who is starting his own traditons with his new wife and baby far from us this Christmas. This will be the first year our whole family has not been together for Christmas. So far we've managed to stay together for Thanksgiving thanks to us being able to travel the last two years to do so.
One more thing I need to do. Let the cooking begin. That's next on my list. I usually am good for a couple batches of fudge, a batch of needhams and with a cookie swap with my girlfriend lots of cookies. I already tried to make my famous peanut butter fudge and really fudged it bad. I forgot it was on and I left the room. Let's just say, it was ok tasting but I would never give it out to anyone outside of my house. This is one thing about having alot of guys around. They eat my mistakes. No problem.
Christmas Day will find us having a Ham Dinner with all the fixin's. I'm in the process of asking a few people over that would most likely be spending the day alone or as in one case a young newly married couple far away from family. I already asked a few, including the newlyweds, but they were already asked. That's good ,but I'm sure before the week is out we'll be having company. It's much more fun that way.
The one thing I haven't decided yet is what to do for Christmas breakfast. I usually like to make one of those meals that you can put together the night before and pop in the oven in the am. So i'm going to have to hunt them down as I've tried different ones over the years. Any suggestions would be welcome. Otherwise it's most likely going to be a new recipe anyhow since I can't remember the ones we liked and the ones we didn't. I think last year we just did a pancake and sausage breakfast.
While I'm writing this I can see those newspaper wrapped gifts glaring at me in the midst of all the painstakingly wrapped, with bows and ribbon I might add, pretty packages. I'll leave them there for a day or two, and then back deeper under the tree they go. Chalk that up to my perfect tree compulsive disorder.
All this work, and then down it goes to do all over again next year which will certainly fly just as fast as this one did. Good grief, where did all the time go?