[I] Wish[ed] You a Merry Christmas...

...And a Happy New Year!

Okay, so I'm jumping the gun a little bit on the new year thing. But let's face it... It's right around the corner :). And with my track record, I probably won't blog again before then :). So, Happy New Year a couple of days early!

December has been a whirlwind of a month. In more ways than one. Some of it was messy. Most of it was good. Pretty much all of it went fast! And I failed to blog most of the big events :). So, here is a December re-cap, in a nutshell. And with pictures!

One night in December, my mom watched Desiree and Emily for Christina so Christina and Nick could go out on a date. Desiree and I took a picture together. She's such a sweetie. This was the same night she asked me, as we walked downstairs to my room, "Aunt Hila, did you think I was so beautiful on Thanksgiving?" And you know there is only one answer to that sweet question: YES!


Emily turned one, as I mentioned in a previous post. So here are three pictures of her on her big day. There are more in the photobucket, if you care to click and see them :). That is one sweet baby.

*Well, I had pictures of Emily up here, but photobucket took them down, I guess because she was only wearing a diaper? I don't really know. So, I'm not going to worry about the hassle of trying to put them back up after cropping them. That's the only thing I can figure was wrong with them, but in case that wasn't the problem... I'll just leave it alone. Just know she was way cute :). It really is a shame there are such sickos in this world that even innocent 1st birthday pictures can be misconstrued as inappropriate in case some pervert out there finds them and uses them in such a way as that.

The following day was the last day of volunteering for the year (2009), since the school went on Christmas Break starting the 18th. I already blogged about the chocolate truffles and the poinsettia that I got from the librarian I'd been helping at the high school. Such a sweet thing. I've been sharing those truffles at work. They are very rich. And very bad for you! But definitely good :). Just like everything that is bad for you...

On Friday, the 18th, we had our work Christmas Party. We had BBQ catered in. Now, this was decent BBQ. Maybe not like the really good one in Dothan (Larry's, I think?), but definitely good by Washington standards. And I love their macaroni and cheese! They put chopped up jalapeno in it. And it reminds me of a jalapeno popper. Which I love, by the way :). We had a really good turnout, and we had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun! We played Dirty Santa -- a game I'm not all that great at, because I never want to take anyone's gift away from them. I'd feel bad. But some people really got into it, and it was pretty funny. There were some pretty cool gifts there, and there was a $5 limit, so really, that was pretty cool. Here's a shot of the group. There are other pictures in here.


After the party and the clean-up, Mary and I hung around a bit longer and watched My Musical, an episode from the 6th season of Scrubs, which I had gotten in the mail that day (unexpectedly) as a Christmas gift from April, Greg, and Courtney! I was very surprised. And usually, I don't open gifts before Christmas, but since I didn't even have a clue what it was that I was getting in my name from Amazon, I went ahead and opened it and found that inside! Thanks April, Greg, and Court! A totally fabulous gift! And Mary and I laughed and hooted, in the dark, in the funeral home, all by ourselves, at 9:30 at night. Hahahaha....

That weekend I worked with Mary, and those weekends are usually way fun. It was a pretty quiet weekend, and so we all pretty much hung out in the boss's office, since he was there too, discussing all sorts of stuff. Thankfully a bell would ring everytime a door opened, so I could tell if someone came in, and I could go inspect. After work, I stopped by the Dollar Tree and then headed to Brad and Tarylyn's to watch Saria, Samuel, and Benjamin so Brad and Tarylyn could do some last minute Christmas shopping. We watched part of Spiderman, and snacked on junkfood, because that's what Aunt Hilas are good for.


When Brad and Tarylyn got home, we popped in an episode of Arrested Development, and also one of the volumes of The Best of Will Ferrell, which I purchased from Wal-Mart (both volumes) because they had a really great deal on them, and I've been wanting them for a while. Man oh man did we laugh! Because watching Will Ferrell as George W. put everything under the sun (including math) in the "axis of evil" is absolutely hilarious. Then I headed home and probably wrapped presents or something. I don't really remember at this point... I think I put together at least one goodie plate to take to church to Heidi the next day.

On Sunday, after church, I went by Christina's to help Nick with a resume. I stayed there for several hours visiting and playing the with the girls. I also added a few Christmas songs to my Zune, to include Do They Know It's Christmas, The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth, Breath of Heaven, and the Hannukah Song (because this counts in my book since it's during the same season :)). Those are among my favorites. Then it was back to the house to finish up the goodie plates for people at work :).

Monday I mozied into work whenever I felt like it. I don't know when I got there. Probably around 10. I do love flexibility :). Work was about the sameold sameold for the week. It was a shorter week, of course. But things went well. We got stuff done. I made the mistake of doing some shopping during the week. Ick. My goal for 2010 is to buy gifts throughout the year. That way I have the opportunity to get really awesome gifts for people and not have to break the bank to do it :)!

On the 24th, we closed the funeral home at 2:00. My mom and I went by Brad and Tarylyn's to take them their gifts, since we didn't all get together this year. We spent some time with them and watched them open their gifts. It was a lot of fun to watch :). Here's me with the sweet kiddos:


And here is Tarylyn opening one of my gifts to her:

This is a wall hanging that is sarcastic. It says, "Don't Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle." I got several different ones for different people. They were very sarcastic -- right up my alley! I even kept one for me that said, "Naughty or nice, I still get what I want." Hahaha... Some of the others that I got said, "What happens under the mistletoe stays under the mistletoe" and "Some of my best friends are flakes." Those things sold out really fast -- and eventually they never had anymore. Which bummed me out, because I had wanted to get one of each for me... But I guess I need to learn my lesson and get a whole slew of them when I see them!

Anyway, I digress... Here are a couple more pictures of the kids opening. And one of me and Brad :). And of me and Samuel.






On Christmas morning, my mom and I went to Ben and Michele's to drop of their presents. Ben had to work in the afternoon. We had a really good visit and laughed and reminisced a bit. I will tell you more about the gifts that mom, Grandma, and I got from Ben and Michele in a bit. But Michele really put a lot of work into them, and they are really neat!

Christina, Nick, Desiree, and Emily came over to the house in the evening to do presents. My aunt and uncle also came over. So here are a few pictures:








Now, that dress Desiree is in is one that Michele made. Desiree was very excited to be able to wear it. It's really really cute. Emily has one too, and Christina had brought it to change her into, but she fell asleep before we got around to it. So luckily it's big, so she can probably wear it next year! Of course, she can probably wear it still now, since it's still winter ;). Emily was exhausted, as I indicated, and she fell asleep on me. So sweet! I always like to hold her when she sleeps. Christmas was very good and we all enjoyed it.

In addition to everyone I was able to see here in Washington, I also got to talk to Julie, Le, Elka, and my dad. Plus I got a text from Annie :). So it was, all around, a gerat Christmas :)!

Here is a picture of most of my gifts. And below it is a rundown of what's what:

• The complete series of Wings from my mom. Such a great tv show back in the day :). I used to watch this show in one of my monitors at UA while I worked in the other monitor. Hahaha... That's why I got the dual monitors. And I found all the episodes on youtube. Anyway, so this was way cool. And my mom was so excited to give it to me :). My mom's so awesome.
• Warm turquoise colored pj's from Aunt Sue and Uncle Ernie. They are soft and like the red ones I got last year, which have really gotten their wear -- and will continue to! They keep me very warm!
• A New Moon calendar from Aunt Sue and Uncle Ernie.
• A calendar from Germany, a German license plate replica that has my name on it, and a Christmas tablecloth from Germany from John, who was over there for 2 1/2 weeks with the Reserves.
• Scrubs season 6 from Greg, April, and Courtney, which I mentioned above :).
• Cry-Baby on DVD from Christina, Nick, Desiree, and Emily. A way cool movie from my teenage years :). I need to watch that soon!
• body lotion and almond roca from Christina (at church) who is my visiting teaching companion.
• a 20 dollar gift card to Wal-Mart from my grandma
• a 25 dollar gift card from Mary with instructions to use it for another season of Scrubs, since I listed off the seasons I still needed too fast for her to remember (and for the record, I used it already -- I got season 3 of Scrubs and also season 9 of Everybody Loves Raymond, and I just spent $10 out of my pocket for the acquisition of these two awesome things :)).
• vanilla-scented bath stuff from Ben, Michele, Sean, Tony, and Royce. Now, two great things about this... I love vanilla! So I'm thinking Michele probably knew this from my blog title :). But also, Michele made the two soaps and the bath salts she included in the set! Way cool! Michele is a woman of many talents.
• A double picture frame (for our 1999 and 2009 pictures -- I have now put in the 2009 one, the 1999 one will have to wait for that ephemeral day when I move out and can get to my garage stuff...), a little Smurf, a Precious Moments friend frame with a sweet saying, The Office pens and pencils, and a Yankeetown Coast Guard t-shirt from Julie! Such fun stuff :)! The Smurf speaks to my love of all things 80s, of course :). And the t-shirt is so cool, because it's a reminder of a huge part of Julie's life and where she's been :).
• Oh, and the wall hanging in the middle is the one I bought myself that I told you about.

Not pictured is a whole bunch of Land-o-Lakes hot chocolate (the kind they only put out at Christmas that is soooo good!), 2 LED flashlights that are very bright. One is small enough to put in my purse :). An ornament, goodies, chocolates, more bath stuff, and a card to use in the county here that allows me to get discounts all over the place.

I have to say that I do love this time of year when everyone seems to be a little bit nicer. And part of the greatest joy I get out of the Christmas season is the giving. I realize that it's very commercialized, and even as I purchase gifts to give, that's part of the commercialization. But there is just a joy that I feel when I find the perfect gift. And then when I watch the person open it. It's always been one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I probably need to work on the spiritual side of Christmas more and do better at focusing on our Savior and His birth. For that is the real celebration. He came for me.

So, now it's time to start settling back into the routine. We will work every day this week except Friday. But that's fine with me. And then it will be a new year. How crazy is that!?! 2010. By the way, that tv show Wings came out in 1990. Which means it's about to be 20 years. And that is a frightening thought that makes me feel old ;).

So, I failed to wish you a Merry Christmas prior to Christmas, but that didn't mean didn't hope you had one! And, so, to make sure I wish you a Happy New Year... Consider yourself wished it :)!