Christmas 2008

Our Christmas season kicked off in early December when we went to the River of Lights with Paul's parents. We hadn't been in a few years and Paul's parents had never been. It takes about an hour to walk through the display. The weather was really nice that night--not too cold and no wind to speak of--so it was a nice way to spend the evening. On the 20th, Paul and I went to his parents' house for presents and dinner with them. I got a portable hammock from them. I've always thought I'd like a hammock (motion-sickness issues notwithstanding) but since we have neither trees nor posts, and a crabby HOA that might not let us actually put up posts or trees, I think this will work nicely. I know where I'm going to put it in the yard when the weather warms up and am already looking forward to a summer nap (aided with Dramamine).
One of the scarves I knit with yarn I brought back from Ireland was for my mother-in-law. It was a green wool that I knit in a garter stitch with a rib stitch at either end. I put a little spot of red in it (two rows) just to spice it up.
My father-in-law and I after all the presents have been opened. I'm looking at my new book called An Incomplete Education, which is just perfect for my love of useless knowledge and antagonizing Paul by reading snippets to him that he doesn't really care to hear or repeatedly interrupting him by saying "Huh." as I'm reading. He's going to love this book.
After dinner, we went with Paul's parents to a Celtic Christmas concert presented by a local group in town.

On the 24th, we drove to Amarillo to spend the rest of the week with my family. We has discussed going up to Kansas to see Paul's granddad but because his parents weren't going to stay long and because it was really really cold there, we decided to wait on that trip. Paul's granddad turned 96 on Christmas day and he's doing pretty good for someone in their mid-90's but there is no denying he's getting old. Hopefully we'll be able to see him soon.

We went to Amy's house to see my parents, Donna, and Amy and her family first. Goofy grins from Abigail and Benjamin before we got down to the business of presents.
For both our nieces and our four nephews, we bought animal slippers and DVDs of a series called Growing Up (fill in the blank animal). Apparently, it was a hit with all the kids. Talking with Paul's brother yesterday, their kids have finished the series and Sarah has decided to be a zookeeper and Joshua wants to pet all the animals. Abigail also seemed pretty pleased with her funny meerkat slippers.
Donna got us a new garden gnome, decked out in Tech togs. It will probably reside in Paul's office with much of our other Tech stuff.
I was stumped as to what to get my parents for Christmas so after Thanksgiving, I was questioning Mom about if she'd gotten a chance to look at the book I'd made for our vacation and if she'd done the same yet. The answer was negative to both of those so Paul and I decided that it might make a good gift for them. She'd shared all the pictures with us so I was able to use them and made a picture book for them of the vacation. Since I'd already made one, it wasn't too hard to compile it, although it was interesting to try to use her pictures. I kept telling Paul that I wish they'd taken a picture of this or I couldn't believe they didn't get that picture. But in the end, I was pleased with the book and I think Mom and Dad were as well.
I also made scarves for Amy and Donna using the yarn I bought in Ireland. These were long, skinny scarves in the garter stitch. I didn't use a pattern, just knit with a color until I got tired of it and then switched to another color. I also put a simple fringe at the ends. I told Amy and Donna not to look too close but I think they look nice.I was looking at the picture book with my mom but got a little distracted. We gave Benjamin shark slippers and while he didn't necessarily like wearing them, he did enjoy playing with them and making them "bite" us. Kind of like what I'm doing here.
My dad checks out the picture book. I had to laugh when he looked at one picture and said "What am I doing?" I didn't know either but needed another picture in Bath and that one fit. (He was pointing at some ruin in the Roman Baths with a goofy look on his face.)
One of those funny kid stories to remember about Benjamin. Amy bought green and pink icing for the kids to use to decorate cookies for Santa. When she showed the green icing to Benjamin, he let out this shriek that we weren't sure what meant. Then he told his mama, "I'm happy!" Santa might have had a belly ache after eating the layer of icing on some of these cookies.

There had been some kind of stomach thing going around--I know I've heard of lots of friends having it in various places across the country. Amy and her kids all had it before we came and my mom was sick the first part of the week. Unfortunately, Donna caught it in the wee hours of Christmas morning. Paul and I stayed out at Uncle Jammie's house since he'd brought his camper back and we'd have another bathroom out there, and Donna was also bunking out there with us that night. I'd forgotten my glasses so I was blindly trying to help her--I honestly just pulled the ponytail holder out of my hair to give to her and found a clean washcloth--but there's only so much one can do to help out. It's not a very dignified illness and sometimes a little space and time is the best thing one can give.

A little bleary-eyed from a short night, Paul and I headed to my maternal grandparents' house for Christmas lunch. Happily, someone had thought to invite my step-granddad who might have been alone otherwise.
It was a full house with two aunts and uncles, a cousin and her four kids, three grandparents, my parents, one sister and her family, some other guests, and Paul and me. The best laid plans were to stop by Granddad's house to see him in a quieter (i.e. easier to talk to him) place and then go back on Friday to spend more time with Gran and Granddad and whomever was left there. We didn't get to chat with anyone very long plus we were only at the house for a few hours before heading back to Jammie's place to see the rest of the family that had shown up out there.

I haven't seen my cousin Julie and her husband and little boy in about five years. They live in the Ft. Worth area but I've not been able to meet up with them whenever I visit. Zane has been diagnosed with autism so much of their time is spent with his therapies. When they've been in the Panhandle, I've not been able to be there. It was nice to see them again and get to play with Zane. He's becoming more verbal, although it's still not easy to always understand him. At one point, he grabbed one of Paul's games that we'd brought and started pulling out all the pieces. If it had been Abigail or Benjamin (or any of the other little cousins), we would have known what to do but we were both at a loss (I don't think either Julie or Chris knew what was going on). I couldn't help Paul because I didn't know what to do either. One can't exactly reason with Zane and once he's focused, you can't divert his attention to something else. So both of us were left saying "Hey, hey, hey" and trying to save the cards from being scattered before Julie stepped in. It's a tough row to hoe and I definitely don't envy my cousin or any other parent facing this. But they're doing a great job and he is an enjoyable kid to be around. Amy, David, Abigail, and Benjamin play with his new car toy from Aunt Jane and Uncle Glen.
Grandmother opens up the bird calendar and birdseed with gave them.
Zane plays with his new states and capitals cards. He can tell you all 50 states and capitals in alphabetical order and by region. There is a states puzzle at Uncle Jammie's that Benjamin started working on. Zane can complete it in no time flat so I was taking pieces Zane was putting in and handing them to Benjamin to put in. I was trying to explain to Zane that Ben is a little boy who doesn't know his states like Zane does. I didn't offer that I'm a grown lady who probably doesn't either. The Midwest stumps me every time.
Granddad watches Benjamin playing with Abigail's new art supplies. Granddad seemed to be in good health and spirits--definitely better than when I saw them in November and he was getting the chemo treatments.
After gifts, we decided to go look at the Christmas lights in Bishop Hills since Uncle Jammie lives out there. About midway through the drive, I started feeling a little "off." I made it another hour or so before I had to acquiesce that I had got the stomach thing, too. It was a long night and I was pretty much inert most of Friday. Fortuitously, Donna and I are pretty much the same blind so I was able to borrow her glasses for the day so I didn't have to muss with contacts or just be blind. I was able to visit with Uncle Jammie, the grandparents, and Donna but didn't want to venture out to Gran's house or to far from the comfort of the couch. Saturday morning, Paul woke up not feeling well so he just spent the majority of the day out in the camper in bed. The family was teasing him that they can't ever get him to visit and then when he does, he won't even come in to visit with them. Thankfully, everyone understood what was going on. We were just hoping that we didn't get anyone else sick but when we left on Sunday, Grandmother was down for the count and on Monday, Uncle Jammie and Granddad both were sick. I haven't heard reports from any other family members but I know Uncle Glen was also sick before Christmas with the funk.

We came home on Sunday afternoon and have spent a pretty quiet week at home, mostly hanging out in our pajamas and enjoying the down time with each other. We had a quiet New Year's Eve at home, playing board games and watching the second season of The Extras. Paul has ended up with a pretty bad cold although he seems to be on the upswing now. I'm doing my best not to get whatever it is that he has.
And the cat has pretty much done this or meowed. Not sure why he's meowing but we spent the better part of yesterday waking him up if he tried to nap. We figured it was only fair play since he'd decided to wake us up at 6:30 every morning this week with his incessant meowing.
So, another holiday season for the record books. One we'll look back on and remember with a laugh as the one where we all had the stomach funk. But at least we were all together with the stomach funk.

Tidings of comfort and joy

Paul and I will be going to Texas tomorrow to visit my family for the holidays. We'd hoped to go to Kansas to see Paul's grandfather but since his parents are only staying until Saturday, we're going to postpone that trip until later in the year. Hopefully, it will be much warmer during that trip than it currently is. I think this year's trip will be a little less hectic than in years past. We're planning on staying put at one house per day on this trip rather than trying to go back and forth between the various grandparents, feeling a little ragged and never like we get to visit with anyone long enough.Today, I finished the final cards I needed to send--last year we ordered 100 cards and I thought it was too many. This year, I only ordered 75 and it wasn't enough. I guess the magic number is some place in between although I think I'll stick with ordering more. I can always find someone to send a card to but I feel a little bad that I couldn't send cards to some friend. I don't know if people will really miss the annual picture of Carrie and Paul but I like that we at least have the once-a-year correspondence with friends. And I like that my husband has a homing device for finding his way into my otherwise-arty pictures.
Since we aren't going to be home on Christmas, as is our tradition, Paul and I opened up presents tonight after eating burritos from Golden Pride. We both like breakfast for dinner and breakfast burritos definitely fall into that category. A friend of Paul's from high school sent him a book entitled "The Truth about Chuck Norris: 400 Facts about the World's Greatest Human." I think all of them have been made into flair on Facebook but it is pretty funny. I wasn't going to spend any money on something for the cat this year. Granted, I normally spend less than $10 on a gift for him but since he normally plays with the gift for five minutes and then ignores it for the rest of the year, I don't exactly think it's money well spent. When I picked up food for him this afternoon, I broke down and got a little something for him. Considering he's already played with this one longer than any other gift we've gotten him, perhaps we have a winner. There's a puffball/feather on the end of the string; not sure what this move was all about but he stayed like this for a good minute, plotting his next attack. I think this was the most active we've seen him in years. Maybe he won't lose total interest in this toy.
I normally buy myself little gifts and wrap them up with tags to me from Jub or from Paul. Paul isn't that great at gift selection and I appreciate that it's not one of his strengths. He's a good man in many respects but not so much when it comes to buying presents. This year, I hadn't gotten much for myself--just haven't been in the mood--and Paul noticed that he had much more than I did under the tree. I don't mind--it's not as if I don't get stuff throughout the year. Plus, I figured between the kitchen countertops and graduate school, I've pretty much spent all my present money for a LONG time. But when Paul asked what I wanted last week, I gave him what I thought was a fairly nonsensical list of items: cowboy boots, pearl necklace, a couple of other things that I can't even remember now. He pondered for a while and said that he liked the idea of boots; we should go buy me new boots. I said OK and thought we might go do that over the weekend or after Christmas. On Saturday, Paul came downstairs and said that he thought a pearl necklace would be a better idea. I said OK but do you know how much that costs? I suggested he visit the jewelry store that we've gone to for the two other pieces of "good" jewelry that I own (wedding ring and 5th anniversary/30th birthday ring) because that would be the easiest place to go, he'd been there before, etc. I told him this thinking he would just continue with his business and forget that idea altogether.

We continued about our Saturday, getting ready for the party, piddling around doing nothing, plotting our afternoon before we went to his parents' house. While we were making our To Do list (yes, labeled and with approximate times on it so that we'd stay on time), Paul said that we needed to include the jewelry store. I got to open these up tonight:

I should have gussied up more because I knew I was going to open this gift but there you go. The most beautiful strand of pearls. The salesperson in the store was no fool--she started with the highest quality "because these are already strung." Of course I loved them but would have been happier with the lesser quality, smaller, not yet strung pearls as well. I left the decision up to Paul and that's what I got. Beautiful, round, pink overtones, 7-7.5 mm in size, 18" long--an "investment" piece of jewelry and much, much more than I ever expected. I kept telling Paul that I would have been happy with boots but I'm beyond thrilled with my generous husband. And I take back most of my grumbling about his strange gifts throughout the past 13 years. I think he's totally made up for it.

I hope everyone finds a little (or big) treat with their name under the Christmas tree this year and has a very Merry Christmas, indeed.

The favorites

So, the calendar is almost through January and I'm just now sharing pictures from Christmas. Better late than never, as the cliched saying goes. As is always the case when Paul has the camera, this is a small sampling of all the pictures that were taken over the holiday.

I'm beginning to wonder about my sister Donna's existence because I never seem to actually capture her in a photo. Perhaps she's a vampire. Maybe she has no soul. I dunno. But one of these years, I'll actually have photographic proof that she was, indeed, at the same holiday with me.

From the neighborhood holiday party. Yes, they were all standing in the kitchen and dining room, even though I'd tried to coax them into the living room by placing food on the coffee table. No luck. I have no idea what I'm doing (I'm under the dining room light) but I seem to have the attention of several neighbors.
Christmas for Paul and me. Paul finds a Ben & Jerry's gift card in his stocking. He has yet to share it with me, the bum.
And then we were off to Amarillo. I have no idea what Amy was doing and I'm sure she's less than thrilled that I shared this one. I did have other pictures of her to choose from but I liked this one. She's very animated.
To fully appreciate this picture of Paul and everyone else, click on it to enlarge it. He hears his own drummer so much of the time. Abigail, in tutu and bunny slippers. I tried to think of something clever to caption this picture but I couldn't think of anything. It was one of my favorite shots.
Benjamin tears into his package from Aunt Carrie and Uncle Paul. Amy had suggested we get him a new tent that could go with the tunnel we gave Abigail when she was about this age. Easy enough to do--I remembered where I'd purchased the tunnel and after a few clicks on the Internet, the package was winging it's way to ABQ.
OK, so I'd envisioned something a little less involved. I'd read the dimensions so I wasn't surprised by the size but I thought it would be a pop-up thing. Apparently, that would be too easy. The set up for this contraption is similar to pitching a full-size tent. But it seemed to be a hit with the children if not the parents. (I'm explaining to Amy there there is a hole on the other side for the tunnel and Mom is drunk. Or blinking.)
Later that evening, the brothers and their families came along with my step-grandparents. Here, Dad, Granddad, and Leta visit while Granny eavedrops in from other side of the room.
Holliday, Melissa, Leta, and Gene. Since Leta is still smiling, this was probably before Gene started explaining how he cleans his gun in the shower. Yes, Gene is naked and armed. Thankfully, he does understand the danger. Not that he's going to stop since he's determined it to be the most efficient method.And if the above story hadn't confirmed your assumption about the family, here's further proof. Yep. We're rednecks. The baby got a package in a beer box.
The next day at Gran & Granddad's house, playing Wits and Wagers. Granddad just looks harmless--he plays the pitiful old man who doesn't know anything while cleaning up. (Hey, look! There's Donna!)
So, Paul went through a phase where everything had to be tried on as a hat--bowls, platters, shoes. Whatever. Stick it on your head or you'll never hear the end of it. I thought he'd outgrown it but when I opened up a new candleholder, I was instructed to do this:
Same day? Next day? It all seems to run together. At least I know we were still in Amarillo. We didn't get many pictures at Uncle Jammie's house--I think the battery on the camera was dying. But thankfully, we do have pictures of Grandmother and Granddad. (And Grandmother also played the "Oh, I don't know anything" role while cleaning up at Wits and Wagers at this house. She correctly guessed the number of Starbucks franchises in the U.S. in 1995. Whatever, lady. Next time, we're not being so nice.)

We drove back to ABQ the next day (the 26th) so we could fly to Kansas the morning of the 27th to visit Paul's family there. It was a good trip--bittersweet since we knew we were saying goodbye to Reva--but it was still pleasant to see the family there. There weren't many photo opportunities on this trip. A snap of Owen:
Paul and I hadn't thrown in enough extra layers for the Kansas winter-- I glanced over one evening and noticed that Paul had utilized his new gloves from Gran and Granddad as slippers.
Back home, we were finally able to celebrate Christmas with Paul's parents on New Year's Day. Jubjub decides he wants to go home with the inlaws. This was even before he knew about the whole teeth-cleaning thing. Traitor.

Day 28: Tis the Season

I'm still itching to put up the Christmas tree and decorate the house. I'm holding off since some portion of our new furniture will be delivered on Saturday. We know we're at least getting the two chairs. Not so sure if the couch will be included. Couch or no couch, we're still hosting the neighborhood holiday party on Dec. 16. We'll just set up the folding chairs where the couch should be.

In the spirit of the season so far, I've put out a few little Christmas things and have purchased and wrapped almost all the presents. One of the only gifts I'm lacking is for Benjamin. I just haven't found that one thing that says it is exactly what we need to get our littlest nephew. I've got a few ideas but nothing that seems to be "It." I'm feeling the same way about my FIL's gift as well. We've ordered a gift for him that he can use on their sailboat but it isn't much and it isn't very exciting. So, I still need to work on those gifts. I've also got to make a phone call about Paul's gift. I'm going for Best Wife Ever with this present but it's something Paul has joked about doing for years. He works long hours and doesn't get to play much so we'll just let him play for a few days.

I've gotten all the gifts for Paul's brother and his family wrapped and ready to mail, including Matthew's and Sarah's birthday presents (which are 12/20 and 1/11, respectively). Paul found the gifts for both of them--Matthew, who will be 5, is getting a make-your-own rubber ball kit. I'm sure Alan and Julie are going to *love* that. Sarah, who will be 7, is getting a new game Paul found at a game store in Berkeley. I'll probably renew their Highlights subscription as well. I loved that as a child--not sure if they feel the same fondness for it because we never hear anything from Alan and Julie about any gifts we give beyond a note that reads "Thanks for the such-and-such. We appreciate it." I asked Paul if he saw anything we'd given them over the years when Paul was at their house recently. He said the rocking snail we gave Sarah for her first birthday was still out. Good--one thing we bought 6 years ago is still being used. Have no idea about anything else purchased since but the snail was a hit. Woo.

We've started buying only one gift for Alan & Julie's family. We see them so rarely so we don't know what they like/want/need and honestly, their house rivals Toys R Us for the sheer volume of toys. This year, we bought a 16-disc DVD set of classic children's stories and some of the books that are in the set. I also always purchase a Christmas book for our nieces and nephews. I don't know if they appreciate it or not. Again, we never hear anything about it beyond a cursory mention in the thank you note. And that's it for them--three boxes for four children. They can duke it out on Christmas morning as to who is the odd-man-out when it comes to ripping the wrapping paper. I guess if I was a good aunt, I would have considered the child-to-present ration. But it's all boxed up and ready to go so it's a little late now. My goal is to head to the post office on Saturday with all our Christmas cards and packages to mail. And I know I seem rather cranky about this but it really hits a nerve. I try to put a lot of thought into the presents we give people and I love finding that *perfect* gift. But honestly, the most well-received gift we've ever given Paul's brother and SIL was a Pottery Barn gift card that required exactly 30 seconds worth of effort on my part. So to not hear anything about all the things we've given that I have put consideration into is quite disgruntling but obligation means we'll continue to send them gifts. I guess I'd just appreciate a comment about the present at a later time or pictures of the child with the present later (even if it is the one and only time they touched the item). Just makes the effort seem more worthwhile.

Today's random picture isn't too random since it is a Christmas picture. This picture was taken in 1977--we're 6, 3, and almost-2 and we are in our red velvet Christmas dresses. Amy's dress originally had a bow as well until she pulled it off. (To really tug at the ol' heart strings, this was our one Christmas without a dad.)

Oh, and it was nice to hear the Christmas carol "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" when I was driving around this afternoon. I'm never sure if I just invent lyrics and that song has lyrics I always think I invented until I actually hear the song and realize that no, there really will be the telling of "scary ghost stories" along with all the other cheery things that happen during the Christmas holiday. Strange.

On our five days of Christmas...

December 23: Albuquerque. All the fun begins when Paul and I open our own gifts at the house.

After indulging in the best breakfast burritos in the world, I'm ready to open presents.

Paul shows the cat his Christmas gift--another toy that he can ignore.

Jub inspects the new purse he gave me for Christmas--the cat has great taste in accessories

Totally ignoring his new toy, Jub checks out a box from one of my gifts.

Still the 23rd: Christmas with my parents, stepbrothers and their families in Sunray.

Madness ensues--six children, lots of presents.
Abigail and I model her new John Deere "talkie-talkies," a gift from her Uncle Gene.
Donna helps Holliday with the laser-tag game. Holliday loved the new robe she received as a gift and didn't take it off after she opened it up.
Benjamin examines a combo John Deere tractor/book from Uncle Gene. (Uncle Gene likes John Deere.)
Benjamin checks out Daegan and Garrick's new RC racecars.

Christmas Eve (round #1): At my maternal grandparents' house in Amarillo.

Learning young the joys of the recliner.
Dad and Granddad C. The whole thing just wears them out.
Who needs all those new toys when there are 20 year old blocks to play with at Gran's house?
Donna concentrates on the "Shocking Memory" game while Abigial supervises. Remember, don't set the shock to high!

Christmas Eve (round #2): With my paternal grandparents at my uncle's house in Amarillo.

Just as we suspected--he really just wants the paper
Lots of fun (and lots of paper).

Christmas Day: At my sister Amy's house in Amarillo.

Paul and Benjamin discuss the ugly, yet comfortable, design of Crocs

Amy is obviously delighted with her new Christmas book. Hey, it came with a bonus ornament! Score!

Abigail, a study in orange, goes for the orange Play-Doh with Grandmother and Uncle Jammie

Mom, Dad, Paul, and Donna

Granddad B. just takes it all in.

David and Benjamin play with some of Benjamin's new tractors. (Grandpa likes John Deere, too.)

Abigail models her new pig wrap, much to Benjamin's delight.

December 26: back in Albuquerque at the inlaws' house

The quilt my mother-in-law made for Paul and me.

Paul discovers the chocolate at the bottom of his stocking.

Paul and his mom. Apparently, it's hereditary.

December 27: breakfast with friends who are in town visiting her family

Sandy, Corey, and Kyra are a little back-lit.

But look at the cool "kit tent" they got for Jubjub. And he's actually gone in it more than once so it's a very successful purchase.