Christmas Day

I love the task of trying to find Christmas gifts for my Mom, just one or two, so that she can have packages to unwrap and, hopefully, be delighted with a gift.  It's pretty difficult since she doesn't want anything and is trying to get rid of the things she does have.

For the past few years I've given her calendars with artwork by Robert Tuckwiller, an artist who lives right exactly where we are from, and paints the landscape we think of as home.  I get one for me to put up at my desk at work, one for Mom, and I started getting one for my sister, too, when I realized how much she liked them.

No Place Like Home - Robert Tuckwiller

I swear, that is practically the exact view across the street from the house I grew up in, and the white house looks just like the house that the lady who sent me the bread recipe still lives in.

When I placed the order I told Mr. Tuckwiller how my mother really wanted to know the location of all of the paintings in the calendars, and he wrote out a list for her, even including previous years.  She was completely thrilled to get that.

She gets a ton of Christmas cards, and I also gave her this cute display hanger from Pier 1:

It looks a lot cuter with actual cards in it

Greg did exactly what I love, which is to get me multiple things to unwrap.  The highlights are a 40"x25" canvas art print of Adam Ant!  How neat is that?  He might know me.

It's already on our wall

And a really fancy USB turntable so I can not only listen to all my albums (yes, I still have all my albums from the 70s and 80s, shut up) but I can also convert them to mp3s.  I actually have a bunch of albums that were never released on CD, so I'm really excited about that.

I'm also excited about the blu-rays of season 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey, which came along with a promise from Greg to watch it with me.  The blu-rays will just look gorgeous on our giant tv.

But the best part was the sneaky way I ninja'd Greg's present.  It's pretty hard to spend a lot of money without him knowing it, since we share a bank account, but I realized a couple of months ago that I could just get $20 cash back whenever I made any purchase anywhere when he wasn't with me, and he'd never notice.  I racked up a couple of hundred that way, took his $100 cash bonus that he got at work, and with a little extra "Christmas shopping money" from the ATM I ended up with a bit more than the ~$400 he thought I had.

So he was pretty surprised to get the 4th generation iPad with retina display and a red magnetic cover to go with it.  Heh.  If he ever puts it down, I'll ask him if he likes it.

Despite Mom still being in pain and despite me hovering over her and forcing her to let me do her laundry and take out her trash and turn down her bed (all things she normally fusses at me until I give up even trying to do) we had a pretty nice Christmas.

My sister and her husband came and we all had ham, sweet potatoes, and green beans in the dining room together.
 
It certainly wasn't the typical Christmas most people picture, but I was with my sweet Mom and my sweet husband and we shared hugs and thoughtful gifts and it was, for the most part, very nice.

I've Finally Gotten My Head Back

From whatever evil monster had taken it away to migraine-land.  That ended up lasting more than a week, which is way, way too long.  Oh, the giddiness when my poor head was finally pain-free!

Update on Donna:  I still haven't called.  I know, I'm a big wuss.  I did, however, compose a script to read, just in case I get her voicemail.  "Hi Donna!  This is Ellen... remember me?  I was just hoping to chat for a few minutes and catch up. I miss you!  It seems like it's just been forever.  Hopefully everything is good and you all had nice holidays.  If you get a minute, you can call me back sometime!  I'm at 000-000-0000.  That's my home number.  Or, I'll just try you back later.  Talk to you soon!"  I figured I'd be better off mentioning the possibility of me calling her back instead of asking her to call me.

Update on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter:  It's still there, doing fabulously.  They sold their millionth butterbeer this week.  I am considering having my yearly visit on my birthday this year, March 17.

Update on Mr. Marigold: Despite having to bring him inside twice due to below freezing temperatures and frost (WTF?  This is Florida! Dammit) he is happy and is blooming yellowly.

Update on Mom: She is doing fine and we had a wonderful Christmas visit.  She loved the calendar I got her (Robert Tuckwiller, who paints scenes from... well, apparently from my childhood.  Looking at this calendar makes me homesick), and we had our traditional breakfast for dinner at IHOP the night of our arrival.  Yesterday she had a hand-held shower and a bench installed in her bath, so she can bathe in the shower while sitting down.  I know it's going to take some getting used to, but I think she'll be much happier, and safer.

I didn't have much ability, stuck in the vise grip of a migraine, to think about resolutions for the new year.  Eat healthy, lose weight, exercise, yadda yadda yadda.  Don't I say that every year, with widely varying levels of success?   Whatever.  Really, I want to watch more movies.  I want to WRITE. I want to spend more time outdoors. I want to see friends and family more often.

Most importantly: I want to get a pedicure!