I'm sitting here at 10:30 at night typing this entry after having stuff the bottom of the tree with all of Abigail's gifts and all of Harold's mom's gifts. I didn't wrap any of Abigail's gifts. It was a dilemma for me. I wanted her to be able to open a gift but I also thought it was an awful waste to wrap ALL her gifts, there are sooo many of them:
1. Roller Skates
2. Mouse House
3. Race track with car
4. 7 Curious George books
5. A Madeline compendium
I rationalized my actions with the fact that Harold's mom went OVER the top with gifts and wrapped everything.
It has been a tiring day. I first went to the mall first thing after dropping Abigail off at school. It was manageable at the beginning but since I didn't have breakfast, I succumbed to Chik Fila knowing that Harold wouldn't want to fight the traffic to eat with me at any restaurant at the mall. He is sick, after a week of me being sick and also shoveling snow with wet feet. My cold is almost gone but I had a really bad bout of face tenderness and thought I had a sinus infection. After the mall, I went to Linda's with Abigail, played with Shane and then went for a quick tour around the Chestnut Hill mall so that we wouldn't have to make the stop on Friday. So after all that activity, gift wrapping didn't seem so much fun.
Plus I had already wrapped all the teacher gifts and Harold's co-worker gifts. The baking turned out to be anti-climatic and I have to figure out a way to make it more manageable. It cannot be the marathon that it was on Saturday and Sunday of last week.
So I hope that Abigail won't mind that all the gifts from Santa aren't wrapped. Maybe she won't notice. But she was thrilled to give Wong Auntie her gifts and I was so proud of her.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Christmas Musings
The Tree
We bought our standard tree at Mahoney's this year. Still $60 and it is a beauty. I used my first tree skirt that I bought last year at Macy's Christmas sale in South Coast Plaza. I spent 4 hours getting the lights and ornaments on the tree. Harold said to me that after factoring in my labor and the total cost of the ornaments, the tree probably cost more than $1000. I had to admit that he might be correct.
Cards
No handmade cards this year and an annual letter. I really like our letter this year and may post it on this site along with a photo of the card.
We bought our standard tree at Mahoney's this year. Still $60 and it is a beauty. I used my first tree skirt that I bought last year at Macy's Christmas sale in South Coast Plaza. I spent 4 hours getting the lights and ornaments on the tree. Harold said to me that after factoring in my labor and the total cost of the ornaments, the tree probably cost more than $1000. I had to admit that he might be correct.
Cards
No handmade cards this year and an annual letter. I really like our letter this year and may post it on this site along with a photo of the card.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
December and the Holidays
It is now mid-December and I just read my latest blog. What happened between the adventure at Chinese school and now? Let's see, about 3.5 weeks of Abigail sickness. I think Abigail was only sick 2 weeks but between Harold and myself, we were sick most of November. I don't think we recovered until right before Harold's mom and nephew and niece came for Thanksgiving.
So being ill took the sails right out of my baking extravaganza and then the cooking marathon that was Thanksgiving also exhausted me in ways that I am only now recovering from. And then also on top of all that was the big lay-offs. Michael is now gone and the power vacuum and imminent organizational changes have left me with some sleepness nights. But I now more or less reconciled with all things. I wanted to be cautious, political and self-preserving.
My current thoughts are on how to enjoy the holidays without exhausting myself and keeping on plan. I spent 4 hours decorating the tree and it left me drained. I swore while putting up the lights and thought that it was definitely not fun. But as Harold pointed out, after all the work, the lights and ornaments look lovely.
Keeping on plan is proving to be harder. I tired of salads and my Middle Easter mixes into my salad. So I'm trying to stay with the trusted and true veggie soup. But it is still difficult to stay on plan with all the wonderful desserts and all my wonderful stress. A double whammy for me. Also the knee is still sore and I haven't been organized enough to get the bicycle contraption purchased and set up.
I had thought of giving myself a break for Christmas but I reconsidered and thought if I were at least conscious of any weight gain, I would at least not be in denial.
Let's see how I fare.
So being ill took the sails right out of my baking extravaganza and then the cooking marathon that was Thanksgiving also exhausted me in ways that I am only now recovering from. And then also on top of all that was the big lay-offs. Michael is now gone and the power vacuum and imminent organizational changes have left me with some sleepness nights. But I now more or less reconciled with all things. I wanted to be cautious, political and self-preserving.
My current thoughts are on how to enjoy the holidays without exhausting myself and keeping on plan. I spent 4 hours decorating the tree and it left me drained. I swore while putting up the lights and thought that it was definitely not fun. But as Harold pointed out, after all the work, the lights and ornaments look lovely.
Keeping on plan is proving to be harder. I tired of salads and my Middle Easter mixes into my salad. So I'm trying to stay with the trusted and true veggie soup. But it is still difficult to stay on plan with all the wonderful desserts and all my wonderful stress. A double whammy for me. Also the knee is still sore and I haven't been organized enough to get the bicycle contraption purchased and set up.
I had thought of giving myself a break for Christmas but I reconsidered and thought if I were at least conscious of any weight gain, I would at least not be in denial.
Let's see how I fare.
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