Merry Christmas

We finally put up our tree on Christmas Eve. Thank goodness we were able to finish it before Noon! I was so happy. Last year, I didn't get it finished until the afternoon (and that meant that everything else I needed to do got pushed off as well).

So, here it is just after I finished:



And here it is later after the sun went down. Isn't it pretty?



What is amazing is that Dave and I had all our gifts wrapped and under the tree BEFORE 9 pm. That was a first too. We are usually up late and exhausted struggling to finish wrapping before we fall over snoring. (Although this morning as I was bringing down the present I couldn't wrap, I noticed that he forgot to wrap John's PJ's - they were still in the closet in a bag).

Now all that good stuff said about prepping for what happens this morning (if Dave ever wakes up!) doesn't mean I'm DONE....'Cause of course, I'm not. I still have some Christmas cards to make and mail (figured it didn't matter if I did them today sometime, since they were going to be late anyway) and I have some presents to finish. But I do see a little shimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe I'll finish before the end of my vacation (which will again also be a first).

After all the wrapping was done, I worked on Rita's gift. Dave picked up a gift card from Lowe's for her (she gutted the drywall in her house and is replacing it. She's been "constructing" for the past few years). It was not much, just a token. So, I decorated another box of chocolates and included that too.





I'm into these gift card holders this year, I guess. Easy-peasy (and pretty too)!

I got an email from UPS yesterday that my Brother received his presents in the mail. Hope he liked them.