Christmas Eve

It IS Christmas Eve, though it isn't feeling much like it -- yet. Usually Bob takes today off, but because of his limited vacation time he can't this year. We'll be glad, of course, once we are on the cruise early next year!!

It's light outside. A couple of the neighbors have put out their luminaria. I'm waiting until Bob gets home from work to do that -- hoping he is able to at least leave a bit early.

Tim is out. Of course.

Torrey and Chris are most likely on their way to Ohio to spend the weekend with Chris' two sisters, two nieces, two nephews, and two brothers-in-law. Hmmm -- they may have double the fun!

The mail has come. I didn't get any Christmas catalogues. This may be the first day in the last 2 months that I've not received a catalogue of some sort. Maybe the merchants have figured out that Christmas Eve is a tad too late to order something in time for tomorrow. It would take more than Santa and his magical reindeer to get it here in time...

I'm imagining Deven just beside himself with excitement. Jill said she couldn't put anything under the tree as Deven would be helping to open it as soon as it was there. He is going to be a shepherd tonight in their children's Christmas pageant at their church. I wish I could be there to see it.

Usually on Christmas Eve we go out to our favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner, the elves leave jammies, we go to the 11:00 service at College Church, and then get in our elf jammies for some hot tea before we go to bed.

But we did half of that last Friday night -- dinner at Beijing (which is under new managment and we didn't like it half as well -- time for a new tradition???) -- elf jammies, but no C'mas Eve service. It's a bit odd doing two Christmases -- half one time and half the other. No stockings tomorrow either....

But I am making cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

That is to say Pillsbury and I are making cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Another Great Video

OK, thanks to my dear niece, Liz Anne, here's another fun one...


Frisco Christmas Lights - Wizards in Winter
The song is Wizards in Winter by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
© 2008 YouTube, LLC

A Favorite Christmas Song...

Mary Did You Know?
Music and lyrics for "Mary Did You Know?" by Spoken
© 2008 YouTube, LLC

Bowing

Ummm -- that is bowing as in applying bows, rather than bowing as in paying homage to the Queen. Or King, as the case may be.

Anyway, we have spent part of the afternoon putting bows on Christmas packages. We have a system. Wrap all the packages together. Heave a huge sigh of relief. Count to make sure everyone has approximately the same number of packages (this is left over from when the kids were little -- does it hang on forever?). Clean up the mess.

Remember that tradition calls to apply bows to said packages.

As I was doing so this afternoon, I chuckled over the rallying cry on Christmas morning -- "Save the Bows!! Save the Bows!!" I wonder how many years these same bows have seen Christmas duty. We have a big plastic box full of them. At least this year we for-bow buying any more.

I debate whether or not to just put a premade bow on the box, or should I tie shiny metallic curly ribbon (red, green, blue, gold, silver) on it? Bob's system is to tie one color of curly ribbon around it and then put a premade bow slap-dab in the center of the tie. No thinking there. But on his tags he always writes a little clue as to what the present might be.

Not too many surprises this year -- we shopped together. Chicos got the bulk of his money this year -- they had waaay too many nice things. So few surprises in fact that he got most of my presents wrapped -- at the dining room table -- before we left for church at 7:45 am.

Don't ask what time he gets up.

Even on Sundays.

Oh my. He just came up from downstairs with another box full of bows.

Good. More for me to add to HIS presents.

We're Cool Now....

....we've learned how to text-message. Now to learn the lingo.

Torrey & Chris got new phones and talked Bob into getting a new one too -- one with a touch face and full QWERTY keyboard. My "contract" isn't up until July, but Torrey gave me her old phone which has a full keyboard on it....

How cool is this?

Cn u jst c us txtg? Us old folk?

Yup, we are now the ultimate in cool.

Or we will be when we each get an iPod.