Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve, and I finally have a moment to take a breath, upload some photos, and make a post to Purdy People. It has been a busy season at our house, with many gatherings. We have loved them all.

Tonight was wonderful. James is so excited about Santa- he tracked his progress on Norad for a good portion of the evening. We had candles with our leftovers for dinner, and we attended a candlelight service at our neighborhood church. Very homey, very mellow, and totally light filled.

Here's a shot of James and I in front of the tree.

I wish all of you a most peaceful celebration of Christ's birth.

Shopping

I went shopping today. I think that there's probably nothing that I hate more than shopping. I wasn't getting anything particularly fun- like clothes for me (selfish me, I can't stand buying clothes for others!), or books (for me or others). No. I had to do things like visit two dollar stores to see if they had anything decent for Christmas decorations (good Lord- they had them, but they sure weren't what I'd call decent), and various other stores like Big Lots and Tuesday Morning. Places that I cringe walking into. The uselessness! The tackiness!

I bought a wreath for the front door that didn't work at all once I got it home and actually had a chance to look at it once it was on the door, another skein of yarn for yet another Christmas gift scarf, and I took a dreaded trip to Sam's Club to join up and purchase some "stuff" for our upcoming Christmas party.

It took me three plus hours. I was in a daze by the time it was over. I have a problem with spending money; I actually get a little sweaty when the time comes to fork over the cash.

"If I hear Black Sabbath Iron Man one more time..."

Visitors

We have had lots of visitors over the past few weeks. Nana and Grandad Purdy visited over Thanksgiving weekend, and were gracious enough to help us put up the Christmas tree, which is one of James very favorite activities. He feels fondly toward particular ornaments: the bird cage, the iron, the Star Wars ornaments my mom has given him in years past. Here he is with a favorite Santa ornament.


I'm knitting like mad trying to finish off gifts for assorted aunts (you know who you are!). Next: the uncles. I'm thinking books. Everyone else is pretty well taken care of, and I can concentrate on making cookies and wrapping gifts over the next couple of weeks. We're keeping it simple this year, which seems to be the going trend, given the economy, etc. etc.