Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category
Gotta love it when your employer picks a holiday to have off just because there’s a length of time between holidays. This week was particularly stressful, Presidents’ Day couldn’t have come at a better time!
So, the gift I brought to my office party was The Clapper. What a HUGE hit that was! It was “stolen” until it couldn’t be “stolen” anymore. I ended up “stealing” a gift of assorted things. I figured it was safe and stuff I normally would use, a few gift cards for coffee, some movie passes and scratch tickets. When I arrived at home I checked out my gift further and was shocked. The spending range was $25-$35, hence the $28 Clapper. My gift consisted of two movie passes including a free large popcorn and two regular soft drinks (easily $20 or more), four $5 scratch tickets, three bags of candy, a $20 gift card to Dunkin’ Donuts and a $20 gift card to Starbucks. I figured what I went home with was worth at least $85!! Apparently I went home with the gift my boss brought. I’m going to have to watch him walk through the door with his gift next year!
My holiday office party is Wednesday night. Good food, good drink and lots of laughter, I usually have a great time. Every year we do a Yankee Swap (AKA White elephant gift exchange, Dirty Santa, Dirty/Thieving Elves) after dinner. I’ve participated the last 5 years and am unsure if I will tomorrow. I don’t have a gift yet as they raised the amount to spend on a gift. The last five years it has been in the $20-25 range and they upped it to $30-35. I have no idea why the increase but I, at first, said “Forget it, I won’t play. Money is tight, I have tons of kids in my family and I buy gifts for all. I usually walk away with something I can’t use.” Last year I came home with a Victoria’s Secret gift card, they don’t even carry my size in that store! So now, as I sit here the night before, thinking about what I’m going to wear to this thing, I’m thinking maybe I should just suck it up and participate. I don’t want to be the only one sitting out of the fun (it is lots of fun). Now I ask of you, if you are reading this post, for some suggestions. What non-gender specific gift do you get for a bunch of Lawyers and Paralegals? I have 2 hours between work and the party when I can shop and I have big mall and tons of shops in the area to chose from. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
This one is easy! I thought I’d share my favorite ornaments. The Santa ornament is from my first trip to Yankee Candle in Deerfield, MA. It is the oldest and probably the heaviest and most pricey of all and always gets the coveted spot near the tippity top of the tree. I’ve picked up an ornament each and every visit to Yankee Candle since.
Next we have candy canes, a perfect ornament for the tree. Candy canes are inexpensive for a whole bunch and they’re pretty tasty too!
It’s funny that we always have ornaments leftover that we can’t fit on the tree. Either the trees we’re getting are smaller and smaller year after year or we’re buying too many ornaments.
Thirteen of my favorite Holiday movies.13. A Charlie Brown Christmas 12. The Santa Clause 11. It’s a Wonderful Life. 10. Scrooged 9. Elf 8. A Christmas Carol 7. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. 6. Miracle on 34th Street 5. The Polar Express 4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas 3. The Year Without a Santa Claus 2. A Christmas Story And now the best Christmas movie of all time:1. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Last year I wasn’t really smart about getting rid of the boxes that their Santa gifts came in and my son found them! He was 6 at the time so I figured all I had to tell them was Santa left them behind and I put them in the basement just to get them out of the way. I don’t think I was convincing though. I’m gonna try to pull off the Santa thing this year and try to convince my son that there is a Santa Claus because I think 7 is just too young to not believe.
I had mentioned in an earlier post that I would show some Thanksgiving pictures since we don’t follow the ‘norm’ and we hold it at a park. So here are a few! The buffet table, you might be able to make out the big stone fireplace behind.
Starting our after dinner walk. Here you see an outdoor chapel.
A view of the pavilion from across the lake.
Leaving our mark on the beach before heading back.
What a busy holiday I had! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We not only had dinner on Thursday but had a repeat on Friday. Every year my family gets together at Sunrise Park for Thanksgiving. This year we held it on Friday for my uncle, his wife and daughter came up from Texas to join us. I tell people that we have Thanksgiving at a park and they think it’s a bit odd or we’re just nuts. There is a big enclosed pavilion with tables, chairs, a fireplace and electricity. The tables get decorated with tablecloths, candles and center pieces. We set up the food buffet-style, on hot plates and crock pots. We set up a little bar in one area. It’s one of my favorite places and the kids absolutely love going there, especially for Thanksgiving. After dinner my dad takes the kids on a hike and tells them ridiculously tall tales (usually believed by 6 and 7 yr olds), I decided to go this year and had so much fun. I’ll be posting pictures in the next few days, to share with you! |
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Did everyone get their lists toSanta? My kids sent theirs off to Santa yesterday, I told them we’re cutting it kind of close so they shouldn’t be disappointed if they don’t get everything on their list (they never get everything anyway, lol). To be honest, I don’t think either of my kids still believe in Santa. My 11 yr old definitely doesn’t, she told me she knows it’s Mom and Dad.
