I took a break from the world of social media from Christmas through New Year's. It was a much needed vacation, but I'm back. I promised before I left to upload some photos, so here are a few of the holiday season:
There was no "Day 25" in the bag of gifts I got on Thanksgiving, but man did my Mom (& everyone else) go overboard with Christmas this year! We were all expecting to have a very low-key Christmas. In fact, on Thanksgiving, my Mom's side of the family decided to do a Secret Santa on Christmas Eve so that we only had to get one person a really nice gift (worth around $50 or totally awesome in comparison). We all put our names in a hat & picked a person to get a gift for. Since then, almost everyone told at least one person who they picked for [not-so] "Secret Santa," and when we put all of the presents in a pile, we ended up with 20+ presents for 10 people! The kids (to whom we had to explain the S.S. concept to multiple times) finally understood what was SUPPOSED to happen for Secret Santa, & then we totally confused them by mucking it up. So much for "one gift per person." Our version of Secret Santa totally rocked though & we had a lot of laughs! One of the funniest "Secret Santas" was more about the wrapping paper than the gift inside. There was one present that nearly got overlooked because, naturally, everyone assumed that the present wrapped in Disney Princess wrapping paper had to go to one of us girls/ at least one of the kids. Nope! We read the name on the package and it was addressed to my Dad! My cousin is SUCH a ham - she could be the queen of the hams; we all got a kick out of it. I was absolutely Ecstatic about my presents as well. Mine didn't come in Disney Princess wrapping paper, but it was pretty awesome. The Iron Gym that my little cousin gave me (SO excited) was installed in my apartment later that evening. Overall, it was a great night. So much laughter, a couple of dance parties, great present exchange with lots of smiling faces, and just all around silliness! Who could ask for more?
Well, the Italian side of the family got together on Christmas Eve, but there was most definitely more to come on Christmas. For as long as I can remember, we've had the same Christmas routine. The people sometimes change a little, and this year is the first year without any of my grandparents, so the people changed more than usual & the locations changed, but the routine remained. Every year, my parents, brother, & I do breakfast & present exchanges first thing in the morning. Then, we go to the neighbor's house for coffee & present exchanging, quickly change for Christmas Mass (I skipped midnight mass this year for a few extra winks but usually this is the second trip to church for the day), and finally, we end up doing lunch/supper with the Irish side of the family. We end our day there, go home, watch a Christmas show, & decompress.
This year was no different & by the end of it I was exhausted! I have to admit, I was a little worried about the massive changes this year, without my Nonna or my Grandfather, but the only thing constant in life is change and we actually had a lot of fun despite their absence. I think they would be/are very pleased to see that we've all continued the traditions they began many years ago.
This will be my last post on this blog, but I'm springing into 2015 with quite the accomplishment as the official author of a blog. Thanks for following!
This will be my last post on this blog, but I'm springing into 2015 with quite the accomplishment as the official author of a blog. Thanks for following!
