I just finished wrapping the last present that we already have here. (Still waiting for one more to arrive - probably Friday). As always, I do 99% of my Christmas shopping online. I’m not crazy about shopping, and I’m not crazy about crowds, so Christmas shopping in stores is not something that appeals to me. I did buy a few little dollar gifts at the dollar store for my granddaughter for stocking stuffers though.

So, this last week before Christmas, I still have to get some more groceries for the big dinner. We usually get together Christmas Eve so the kids can go off to the inlaws for Christmas Day. We’ll bake a ham, slice it up, make sandwiches, and have lots of finger foods to go with it. Everyone seems to prefer the snackies type Christmas dinner over the traditional dinner, since Thanksgiving dinner was just a few weeks ago.

My granddaughter is just a little over 1 year old, so this will be the first Christmas she’ll be able to enjoy. She still doesn’t really know what’s going on, but she does like the Christmas ornaments and lights, and she has a pretty decent grasp on the concept of opening a present and getting cool stuff. So, this year should be pretty fun. I think her favorite toy will be the toy cell phone I got for her. The kid is absolutely bonkers about two things - remote controls and phones. We had to give her her very own (old, no longer used) remote control to play with, but she still tries to grab the real ones whenever possible. And don’t get a phone anywhere within her reach! So, I found a nifty toy phone that lets you record a message, so when she hits a button, she actually hears someone (me) on the other end. It also does some other cool things, so I think she’s gonna go ga-ga over it.

Since we recently moved here, we didn’t go all out on the decorations this year, but next year we’ll be decorating the outside of the house, the front porch, and the back deck. There were just too many other things to do this year. But the inside of the house is nicely decorated and has a very nice ambience right now. Life is good.

What are y’all doing to get ready for Christmas (or whichever holiday you may be celebrating at this time of year)? Whatever it is you do, I hope all of you have a wonderful, joyful time, filled with great fun and lots of love this holiday season.

(from Smash Mouth. "AllStar" Astro Lounge. Interscope Records, 1999.)

Posted on December 18th, 2006 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Life