T'was The Night Before Christmas

We're all done. Not that we had that much to do to prepare for tomorrow but we're finished all the same. There are chocolate and vanilla almond dipped peanut butter cookies and pretzel sticks all packaged to bring to my sister's in the morning. E and I spent our afternoon dipping things and making a general mess in the kitchen but we had a great time. Elyssa and Tyler's gifts are wrapped and ready to go as well.

I am a terrible gift wrapper. I always have been. Look closely at a gift I've wrapped and you'll find crooked edges and ends that sometimes don't quite meet. I could never be one of those people who get hired on during the holiday season to wrap gifts at a department store. I'd be fired within the week. It's not that I don't try. I just suck at it. My dearest friend K wraps beautiful presents. Every year the underside of her tree is filled with gorgeous gifts embellished with curling ribbons and assorted bric-a-brac. Every edge is straight and every end meets beautifully. Stand one of my creations next to hers and you'll be able to pick it out with no problems. It's the one that looks like the gift equivalent of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. K did teach me how to properly fold the ends of the wrapping paper a few years ago and I have to tell you that one trick has done wonders for my gift wrapping.

This year, since I only had the two gifts to wrap, I actually used two different types of wrapping paper. Because wrapping is such a chore for me, I ususally grab one roll and wrap everything in it each year. But I learned long ago not to try to embellish as it only makes things worse - both for the gift and my temper. Tonight I was actually able to find two bows that weren't squashed to fit right in the center of each box.

So E and I won't be up late this year getting things together. We'll be able to get a good night's rest. Sometime during the night, Santa is going to stop by and leave a box of chews for the dogs. They'll probably sleep through the whole thing.

In the morning, we'll head out bright and early to watch my two favorite kids on the planet open their gifts. Afterwards, we'll eat our share of fried catfish and baked potatoes and follow that with sweets that none of us need to eat. We'll play games with the kids until the evening hours and enjoy being with the ones we love. My Dad won't be with us because he has to work. It'll be the first Christmas in many that he hasn't been there so it won't be the same.

May you and yours have a very happy and joyous Christmas, Hanakkah, Kwanza, or whatever holiday you celebrate.