'tis the season

The Christmas holiday was sure busy!

First, I had a lot of goings on over at my other blog.

It was so crazy for the weeks around Christmas that I was actually a bit relieved when it was over. My mom's house was filled with my parents, me and John, my two brothers, their wives, the three grandboys, and my grandma, who frequently came over to visit everyone. There wasn't much time to prep for Christmas since the school year went all the way till the 21st. John and I got more jobs than I was expecting. I didn't think many teachers would take off the last week before Christmas. Boy, was I wrong! We worked every day but one. We'll be very excited to get that paycheck in the next few days!

To start it all off, I made a gingerbread... cube. There is a popular game that John loved, and I played through for a bit until it got too hard and John stopped telling me all the answers, called Portal. In the game is a cube that you carry around in a few of the puzzles called the Companion Cube. Anyway, it looks like this!

Next year I'm going to make a gingerbread TARDIS

We watched lots of Christmas movies including A Christmas Story, Scrooge (1970), Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, and so many others! Like Cars, which we watched because the little boys love it. I saw it so many times in those few days that Owen Wilson started narrating my dreams. 

For Christmas, John and I got new tires for our car (really exciting, huh?) and decided not to really exchange gifts with each other. But he broke that rule and got me something anyway. (Please allow me to brag). Way back in September or October, John and I strolled through the antique stores in town, and I fell in love with a gorgeous pearl ring. I'm not typically usually very fond of pearl jewelry, but this was different. The owner was so nice and pulled it out of the case for me so I could look at it, and when I slipped it on my finger, it fit perfectly. I have never, ever tried on a ring and had it just magically fit. My finger is a size 4.5, so there isn't any surprise why. But this one fit like it had been made for me! She told me it was 14K gold, and the ring was circa 1890. When she first got it, the original pearl had been very beat up and worn, so she found a pearl from the same era and had it set in the band. She told me that had shown it to many, many women, but she had never seen the ring fit anyone before. It was my own glass slipper. Unfortunately, we hadn't really been working yet, and I knew we couldn't afford it. So I put it back. And I heard my heart break.

Imagine my surprise when John took me in into our room on Christmas morning and handed me a large box. The first thing I said was, "Did you put Suki in the box so when I open it, she jumps out at my face?" He laughed and said, "No! Just open it!" So I did. And at the bottom of the large box was a small ring box. And in the ring box was my antique gold and pearl ring. I started crying so much, because this had been a really, really hard Christmas for me. It completely brightened my whole day! And I have worn my ring almost every day since. 

Then, I felt bad, because I didn't have a super special, secret gift for John. I did, however, have something wrapped for him. For the last few months, John and I have had this thing. I don't know what to call it. When school started back in September, my mom brought home all of the stuffed animals from her classroom to give them a good bath.  Included in the bunch was a hideous, gross, green Furby toy that I'm sure came in a McDonald's Happy Meal. She had decided to retire it without ceremony, so I stole it to play a prank on John. I hid it under the covers on his side of the bed so he'd see it when he got in that night and be scared by its creepy, murderous face. From then on, we have taken turns at hiding the Furby for each other to find. The best was when he hid it in my scripture case and I found it in the middle of Sacrament meeting at church. 

Anyway, so I had wrapped the stupid Furby in a box and put it under the tree for John to unwrap that morning. It seemed so funny to me at the time until I got the gorgeous pearl ring, and then he went for the Furby gift with an excited glint in his eye. Fortunately, he had a fantastic sense of humor and thought the wrapped Furby was hilarious. 

Later Christmas morning, John and I had a date to the movies to see Les Miserables. I know it wasn't very popular with many of my friends, but I really did love it. We pigged out on large popcorns and soda pops, which was a bad idea at a 2.5 hour long movie, and had a grand date. 

We spent lots of time playing games (the favorite this time was Wits and Wagers) and watching more Cars. It was busy, loud, and hectic, but we all had a great time.