Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, all! I hope that each of you had a wonderful time with your loved ones.

I finally finished the last of my gifts Friday night. Yippee!! Saturday, I started to feel sick (headache, fever, nausea) and actually left PIT halfway through my shift. (Thanks so much, Heather, JoAnna, and Julie!) I went home with the hope that I would feel well enough to drive to my parents after a long, much-needed nap. No such luck. I slept for about 5 hours and woke up with a low-grade fever and a still-thumping headache. I wrapped the remainder of my Christmas gifts, then went back to bed. Sunday, I slept in, took another nap, and finally felt well enough to drive to my parents by Sunday night. The weather decided to get nasty - from no-snow to white-out in a snap. I finally made it to my parents' house and was greeted at the door by Boots, our cat, who hasn't left my side since. Unfortunately, my late departure meant that I missed Christmas with my dad's family. Missed you guys!

Yesterday, my cousin, Chris, and his wife, Jennifer, hosted Christmas in their new home. In attendance: my mom's side of the family, Chris' dad's side of the family, and Jennifer's family. The food was incredible, and we had a lot of fun during our ornament exchange. After we got back to my parents' house, we had our family Christmas exchange. My mom liked her birdhouses, and my dad like his calendar and photo cube. (Yay!)

My mom and I got up early (5:30) to go shopping. Unfortunately, the store we wanted to go to, Swiss Plaza, didn't open until 8AM! So, we went to McDonald's for breakfast then went back home for a little while. We went back to the store, hoping to get some Hallmark ornaments at 50% off. We found out that they didn't carry this year's collection, so there weren't any ornaments to be had. (Just our luck!) We then went to a couple of small shops downtown - The Gathering House, Eidelweiss, and Faith and Life Bookstore - to see what treasures we could find. Neither of us bought much, but we had a good time together -- and that's all that matters! =)

I packed up the car and was ready to head out, when Eric decided to check my car for an antifreeze leak. (We had noticed a small puddle in the driveway the day before.) Sure enough, there is a small leak in my radiator hose. So, I won't be leaving until tomorrow afternoon, after Eric fixes my car. Thank heavens that I have a brother who's a mechanic!

Well, it's late, and I'm starting to ramble, so I'm going to go now. If I don't see you before then, have a Happy New Year!

Where's the JOY?

I've been reminded that It's been a while since I last posted. Here's why: As Christmas draws nearer, the more stressed I get. Too much to do, too little time as usual. I had the best of intentions. I was going to make heartfelt gifts for my friends and family. I was going to make my Christmas cards and mail them by December 1st. (Since you haven't gotten one, you can guess how well that has worked out.) It's now the 20th of December, and I still have several gifts to finish and holiday cards a la Hallmark (sorry, Alice) to address and mail. I'm beginning to feel like the characters in all of those TV movies who hate Christmas. I don't really hate Christmas, but I hate that I've allowed the hustle-and-bustle and shopping and commercialism to take the JOY out of the season for me this year. I honestly can't wait for the 26th so I can relax. So, I apologize for the late cards, gifts, and lack of posting. I promise to do better in 2008.