Christmas 2012

Christmas yesterday was wonderful, which is no surprise--we always have amazing Christmases!  Although this time we did have two little setbacks.  The first one was that Clint got stuck on the phone with Verizon for over an hour on Christmas morning.  I won't get into the whys, but it was such a bummer because he wasn't able to eat breakfast with us, help me clean up the gift-opening mess, or load the car.  By the time he got off the phone, we were running late and had to leave the house in a frenzy.  Once we were at my folks house, we were able to calm down and enjoy the rest of the day (except for we forgot Dylan's gift), but it was a rough way to start our day. 

The second setback was the fact that Clint had to get up at 4:45 a.m. this morning (the day after Christmas) for work.  Normally we would have stayed at my parents house until 8 or 9 on Christmas night, and I would have sat with my mom and sis during that last hour and enjoyed a glass or two of Moscato, knowing that Clint and I had the whole day after Christmas to relax.  But because of Clint's work schedule, we ended up leaving earlier.  I actually didn't mind having some time at home last night, but I felt bad that Clint had to get up so early this morning to work a twelve hour shift without getting any time to unwind from yesterday's busy day.

Besides those issues, the day was awesome.  I hate to define Christmas based on the gifts, but I made out big time.  Clint wasn't supposed to get me anything because he's remodeling the bathroom for my Christmas gift, but he wanted me to have something to unwrap, so he ended up surprising me with this clock from Kirklands:

I absolutely love it.  It is now hanging over my fireplace.  And--also from Kirklands--he bought me these two toss pillows, minus the pink (the pink areas are chocolate-brown in real-life):

And of course there were stocking stuffers; everything from fur-lined suede gloves to Ghirardelli raspberry-filled dark chocolates. 

I also received some great gifts from my extended family.  Some of the ones that stand out are a gorgeous shawl from Teri made from soft, gray, silky fur, and three beautiful scarves crocheted by Moo (since when can that girl crochet?).  Shan gave me an entire outfit.down to the necklace, earrings, and shoes.  I modeled it for her and my mom yesterday, and it is so adorable.  It helps that she can try everything on herself first, never having to worry if it will fit me.

But the gift that stands out the most to me this year was from my dad:

This is a ruby gemstone on a white gold band.  My dad is not in the habit of giving me pricey  jewelry for Christmas, nor do I have expensive taste.  But this particular ring has a back-story--I'll explain it another time.  For now I will just say that it means a lot to me.   

I was going to write down what I got everyone for Christmas, but given that it is now well-past midnight and Christmas was no longer yesterday, but two days ago, I think I'll head to bed now. 

I can hardly believe we are getting ready to enter 2013.  Remember when the year 2000 seemed so far off and futuristic?  And now here we are, almost thirteen years into the new millennium.