Same As It Ever Was

 So...this Christmas was going to be different, I said. I'm going to wrap presents early, I said. Why do I lie to myself, and others???

I was so pleased with myself because I received all of my online orders early or on time. I was going to immediately open them, sort them, and wrap them as they came. I was going to be ahead of the game and just relax Christmas Eve, drinking dark chocolate hot cocoa and watching Christmas specials. That was my plan right up until Christmas Eve, when I realized I hadn't opened any of the packages and now could only vaguely remember what I had ordered for which daughter and where I had hidden them!

You would have thought this would have spurred me to action but NOPE. As Brie kept saying, "You'd better do your wrapping NOW before you get sleepy and then want to take a nap and then wake up in the middle of the night and then sit up mad until daybreak." I indignantly kept replying, "I'm going to start wrapping as soon as you leave for Adam's house to get your stuff out of the way, and then I'll wrap Kitty's when she goes upstairs. Trust me: I've got this."

And as you can imagine: I didn't have it. When Brie left, I bribed Kitty to wrap her sister's gifts for me. She was happy to oblige, and add her name to a couple. I didn't care because it allowed me to continue to "rest" on the couch. She did a great job too: thanks to my flat wrap. You know I'm not going to fool around with the rolled paper! I have no patience for that and I'm happy to order flat wrap from Amazon every year. Which the girls happily use as well! But I digress...

When Kitty was done and had them placed artfully around the tree, she asked when was I going to finish wrapping. I said, "As soon as you go to bed. And no peeking!" You know Kitty didn't believe this for a minute. "Well make sure you do it and put the gifts under the tree." "Of course I will!"

And of course I didn't! When Kitty went upstairs to bed, I immediately laid down on the couch. Brie texted me to make sure I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, and I lied and said I was busy wrapping. Busy napping is more like it! And just like every year in recent history: I fell asleep. I woke up at 4:20 in the morning, horrified. Then I decided to watch a couple of TV shows. Hey: "Mom" was on! By the time I had gathered the presents I could find, it was going on 6 a.m.! I hauled the items into the dining room, opened them and commenced to wrapping. It probably would have been more successful if I'd commenced rapping, because I hadn't found everything! I wrapped what I had and then had to go scavenging for the rest of the presents. I found a few, but not all. Oh well: the girls were used to that. But it was still a good haul for them, considering they are grownups! By the time I had everything under the tree it was 8:18 in the morning. I laid on the couch and put the blanket over my face. 

Kitty was up at 8:40. Wow, the shortest nap for me in history! But she said she would wait for Brie to get home so we could open our gifts together. However, she did do her stocking and was pleased. When Brie got home around 10 a.m. or so, she laid on the other couch and tried to stay awake while Kitty opened her presents. She was thrilled with everything: especially the Sailor Moon hoodie her sister had gotten for her. Afterwards, Brie and I fell asleep while Kitty watched Christmas shows. Finally we woke up enough to open ours. Kitty won the "Make Someone Cry" award for the beautiful magnet she got her sister, talking about the special relationship sisters have and how much she loves her. Go Kitty! Made me miss my sister a little more, but it was worth it to see Brie cry 😊

So let's be real: no one was surprised that I was up so late (or early, depending on your perspective!) trying to find and wrap presents. And no one was surprised that 2 days later I was still finding and giving them gifts! I guess that's just part of my charm.

Anyhoo, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and will have a wonderful 2022. I want to thank whoever was in a reading mood New Year's Eve, because I had 80 reads which put me over 27,000 for the life of this blog. Thank you so much! And as usual: no resolutions for me except to keep writing and hopefully keep entertaining you all. You are always welcome to reach out to me!

Stay safe, stay healthy and Happy New Year! Blessings to you all 💗 And trust me: next year I'm really wrapping the gifts early!