Soon It Will Be Christmas Day!

[dodger_sister]

I hope you are all having pleasant holidays thus far! And that you got your Christmas shopping done! No one wants to have to hit a store tonight, let me tell you. Once a friend asked me to run him to Meijer on Christmas Eve so he could pick up some last minute gifts for his family. When we went into the store, it was so crazy in there - not only crowded but people like pushing others out of the way and like the exact opposite of the Christmas spirit - that I ended up going to wait in the car because I was afraid of getting knocked over.

Anyways, I got my shopping done early - it’s easiest since I do like 90% online shopping and I like to make sure I have time to get free shipping and have it arrive in time. About 80% of my shopping was done by November 3rd, while all the rest, including everything having been delivered and wrapped, was done by December 3rd. I do this mega wrapping thing where I wrap them all at once. I listen to Christmas music or watch a Christmas movie while I do it. It seems like a good idea until I am about halfway through and then I always remember, “Oh, yeah, I burned out halfway through last year too.”

So Christmas has been kind of not very holiday-ey here, because for one it has been in the 50s for most of the month - one day it was 65F, when our average temp for Michigan in December is 30F. For another thing it has just been hectic here with Mom’s surgery and we had to rearrange plans and idk, it’s just felt super stressful. (Mom is doing really well though!) But so it was nice that before all the craziness started, Sis and I went and did something really holiday-ey and went to a special Christmas concert at her church that was to raise money for our local food bank. It lasted about 2 hours and they had snacks you could buy - we had popcorn - and the music was very Mary Chapin Carpenter-esque, which I really like and their lead singer was quite a good entertainer, good with the story telling. They did some traditional Christmas music - which I love, despite not being religious myself - and some folk music and then some parodies, like for Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”, they did a song about Fruitcake called, “I Don’t Wanna Eat It.”

We both knew this would probably be our only non-hectic, spirit-of-Christmas event for the holiday and it was just really nice, the two of us, out together on a Saturday night, peaceful and fun. We got in the car afterwards and turned to look at each other and we both just went, “Merry Christmas.” It was like our own little gift to each other. I hope you all get one moment of peace this holiday season as well!

Comments

[shirebound]

it was just really nice, the two of us, out together on a Saturday night, peaceful and fun.

Lovely. I wish you many peaceful and fun moments in 2016. :)

[dodger-sister.livejournal.com]

Lovely. I wish you many peaceful and fun moments in 2016. :)

I will take them when they come, for sure! Yes, that Christmas concert was just a wonderful evening. <3

[vikingprincess]

I did all of my Xmas shopping early, too, since most of it gets sent elsewhere. The only thing I did late was stumble onto some Firefly Funko Pops (and a six inch Jayne action figure), which I HAD TO GET for TAH(tm), myself, and our "adopted" daughter (one of my former students whom we love SO MUCH, who usually stays with us instead of her parents when she's in town).

TAH(tm) gave me both a new Kindle AND the silver/gold Leaf on the Wind pendant. And we opened everything last night so we could sleep in today. Ha!

Love to you and yours, dearie - and I hope things continue to go well for Mom post-surgery.

[dodger-sister.livejournal.com]

(and a six inch Jayne action figure), which I HAD TO GET for TAH(tm)

Oooohhh. That is a must-have, for sure! Sis got one of the official 12 inch Jayne's. When I saw it, I thought it was for me, but she was all, "Hands off, he's mine!" Well, you know I threw down about that. She can have the action figure, but she best know who Jayne belongs too! (he came with a bunch of weapons and they are all in the trunk of the pseudo-impala she has.

TAH(tm) gave me both a new Kindle AND the silver/gold Leaf on the Wind pendant.

Idk which is a better score! Excellent presents! I got San Andreas and Jurassic World and the spinner ring I asked for (I gave her options on the design, cuz I couldn't decide, but she picked the four elements since I am so into Avatar Airbender stuff right now) and the video game I asked for too. We both scored!

Love to you and yours, dearie - and I hope things continue to go well for Mom post-surgery.

Thank you. She was scheduled to go home to my aunt's house today but instead went to the hospital by ambulance on Wednesday. (they actually sent her to the local hospital when we had requested she go to the special cardio hospital, so for a brief 30 minutes there or so, we lost our mom! Sis was at the cardio unit and no one could find her!) Pneumonia and possible sepsis and...it's not good. I keep meaning to email you but every day I think I'll have better news and I don't. Canadian brother drove home today to see her, because it's that bad. She may not make it this time - but I know I've said that before, so I'm not counting anything out.

[vikingprincess]

That ring sounds like it's made of pure awesome. (How adorable that Jayne's weapons are being used for hunting twelve inch monsters and demons!)

Well, crap. I'm sorry to hear that she's got the pneumonia and possible sepsis. Those are always both post-op risks, of course, but harder to handle the older someone is. :( I definitely hope that the news gets better, but I can totally understand why Canadian brother drove home just in case. Scary stuff.

Please let me know if there's anything at all I can do (though I know there's probably not much).

[yeuxdebleu.livejournal.com]

I do all my Christmas shopping on line, too. I wouldn't be caught dead in any store (except a grocery) from mid-November until early January. Glad to hear your mom is doing well. The Christmas concert sounds lovely. I hope you've had a very nice Christmas.

[dodger-sister.livejournal.com]

I do all my Christmas shopping on line, too. I wouldn't be caught dead in any store (except a grocery) from mid-November until early January.

Aboslutely1 I feel you on that! The week before Thanksgiving Sis was like, "Make a list of anything you need from Target because I'm not going there again until after the new year." Which was ridiculous, because we go there at least once a week, sometime twice, so there was no way she was making it six weeks without a trip to Target, but it was a valiant effort on her part, lol.

We had a very nice Christmas indeed, thank you! You?

[yeuxdebleu.livejournal.com]

We don't have a Target store anywhere near us...the nearest one is over 1-1/2 hours away. But we go to Walmart once a week and skipped a couple of weeks when we knew the store would be very crowded.

Yes, we had a nice Christmas. Very quiet, just the two of us, but I made a lovely dinner. Same again for New Year's Eve/Day. We really don't like to be on the roads on holidays. Too many wacky (or drunk) drivers around here.

[ranua.livejournal.com]

The concert sounds like it was a very lovely evening.

We weren't having very Christmas like weather here in Nebraska either. Then Christmas eve it dumped 6 inches of snow on us and hasn't warmed up since!

[dodger-sister.livejournal.com]

The Christmas concert was actually really nice, yes - fun and peaceful at the same time.

We weren't having very Christmas like weather here in Nebraska either. Then Christmas eve it dumped 6 inches of snow on us and hasn't warmed up since!

I think it rained here on Christmas, but no snow. We got a very small amount about four days ago, stuck to the ground. It was 12F maybe. Now it's 45F and the snow has all melted again. I went out yesterday with just my over shirt on, no coat. IDEK what's going on with the weather gods or how I feel about it!

But I know right now while I am tying this, you are on a cruise experiencing about 75F, so that's something good!