Christmas at My House

This is the Kris Kringle gift I recieved at the office party. I opened the lemon first and was really starting to wonder about the office... It makes a nice little display, no?

Our Christmas Tree. Or Sorts... We left getting a tree a little too late, so I did the best I could with the little I could find. But it looks lovely and it finally actually looks like Christmas in here. Of course, it helps that I got my Christmas gift from my mother. She's so good... one package wouldn't be festive enough; she sent 3 wrapped gifts, each one with different paper. I got my love of wrapping gifts from Mom; she excels at it as if it were a competitive sport. I walked up to the post office to get my package and when the guy set it on the counter, I asked him if he'd do me a favor. I promised my mom that I wouldn't look at the contents list, so he tore it off and handed it to me folded up. The lady behind me in line laughed that 'That's so riduculous but I absolutely understand' laugh. I walked home with the box all chipper and smiling. And as if that wasn't good enough, the door bell rang and this lovely little man handed me a box from Mrs. Jones. That would be my sister who sent me a box of handmade Irish chocolates. It was so unexpected. They wrapped it up in styrofoam to keep it fresh and chilled. Ahh... It was all wrapped and lovely and I couldn't bear to open it. I found myself sitting on the sofa, drinking tea and holding the box like a child. I'm not the child in this metaphor; a child would have had the box open and 3 chocolates down in 2.5 seconds flat. I was actually cradling the box in my arms. Sigh... The sad things is, I was musing on how to hid the box from Flatmate Suzie so I could eat each and every chocolate, as if my sister made them by hand herself. Which is ridiculous I realize. Mom makes chocolates in the family; Melissa makes vegetarian fare. I finally opened it up and scarfed 3 of them before I left for the day. They were good... And yes, I've since shared them with FS.

As I was shopping for the last of the gifts, along with all the little things that make Christmas look like Christmas (like wrapping paper, garland, tree lights, etc. I got the garland but that's all about) I did manage to find the one thing I'd been looking for since I returned from New York. My relatives gave me a little gift for showing them around the city (totally unnecessary but oh so appreciated). I had been saying I needed an umbrella but that I wanted something other than the standard issue black.. When the sky is grey so much you need a little color. They gave me money and told me to find the umbrella of my dreams. I finally found it!

M e r r y C h r i s t m a s E v e r y o n e ! ! !