Christmas Day Recap

Happy day after Christmas! I didn't post yesterday, so I'm going to make up for it today by posting twice. Maybe. :) This morning I'll talk about yesterday, and then later tonight I'll talk about today. Sounds reasonable, right?

So yesterday was a great Christmas. J and I exchanged our stockings at just before Midnight, because we were awake anyway and we were impatient. He got me yummy malted milk balls from Gertrude Hawk chocolates, red pistachios because I told him once that I love those, strawberry scented V05 shampoo (I was using it when we first met, so he associates that smell with me now) and five or six of those Double Crisp santas, which I love, love, love. Yum. J got a bunch of chocolate, including lots of peanut butter cup stuff, because he loves those, a new toothbrush (to counteract all of that chocolate), a couple of scratch off lottery tickets and the big one - keys to my house. :) He liked those the best.

And then it was Christmas morning! The best morning, because it brings gifts! Followed shortly by cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk! Excellent. And do you want to know my haul? Of course you do! J went way overboard. I got a Bob Seger CD (Smokin' O.P.'s, which is an excellent CD), Field of Dreams on DVD, some Hickory Farms beefstick and smoky cheese (I love that cheese, yum), SU socks, a Stephen King book on CD, and then the two best gifts - a gold rope chain and a charm bracelet. And there is a story behind the necklace. At some point I showed him a pendant that I have from my step-father. Wayne (my step-father) died from cancer in January of 1993. For Christmas of 1992 he had my mother drive him to a jewelry store on a day when he was feeling like he could be up for a little while, and he went in and picked out this necklace for me. He couldn't stay in the store long enough to do anything other than pick it out - then my brother took him back to the car and my mother paid for it for him. It means a lot to me, and I used to wear it everyday. But then the chain broke and I couldn't afford to replace it with a nice one. I bought a couple of cheaper chains from Walmart, but they didn't last long before they broke too, so since then the pendant had been sitting in my jewelry box. J thought I should be able to wear it again, so he bought me a chain. I love it. I also love the charm bracelet - they're my two favorite gifts from him.

By the time we got done opening gifts and eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast (yum), it was time to get ready to go to his parents' house for the day. And I was a little nervous about it, because even though I had met them all before, spending Christmas Day with someone else's family is a big thing. But it was great. His family is wonderful, and I already love his Mom. She's great. I watched while everyone opened their gifts, and I had a few of my own to open, including a few more from J that he took over there (a Borders gift card, Quantum Leap season five and Bob Seger's Greatest Hits part two). And his Mom gave me a little stocking with a lottery card and a mini M&M thing in it, and I won $25 on the lottery ticket! Excellent. The luck was with me yesterday. And we had a great dinner of lasagne (his family alternates and does lasagne one year and roast beef the next) and we hung out and talked, and his Dad showed me pictures of J from when he was first in the Navy. I felt like they were making me part of the family, and I loved it. I hope he feels the same way while we're at my sister's house.

Anyway, this is a really long boring entry basically just telling you what I got for Christmas. Sorry for that. Today J and I will be relaxing for a while and then we'll be going to my sister's house for the holiday with them. All six of her kids and their respective others will be there, so poor J will be kind of inundated with a family that isn't his. Poor guy. They'll be nice to him, though.

And now that I've bored you with a horrible Christmas Day recap, I'll show you a picture to reward you for your patience. Below you will see Sable, enjoying one of the toys that Jamie gave her. Well, he gave them to all of the kitties, but it's mostly Sable and Gracie that play with them. Thanks Jamie! They love them.