It was a wonderful Christmas, very low key as DH is has been home for 4 weeks recovering from hip replacement surgery. Most of my energies were directed towards taking care of his needs, so no fancy decorating or extensive shopping & cooking this year (I got a tree a week before Christmas & decorated it with candy canes only). He is doing great and is enjoying the extended time away from work, something he hasn't experienced in 32 years. I haven't seen him this relaxed & easy going since we were out of college.

Our #3 son is home from school. He's struggled academically for years because of ADD, but made the decision this summer to wrap up his degree & moved to New Orleans to enroll in UNO at the last minute. Well, he had a fabulous semester: 4 A's & a B, made a boat load of new friends, found some inspiring professors, lots of good stuff. I'm thrilled to see him so happy & proud and am keenly aware of how he had to work his tail off to get those grades. He's finally maturing.

And it's our last Christmas with #2 son as our "child." He's moving out, getting ready for his forthcoming marriage to a wonderful gal. I'll spend this week helping him move stuff to his new place.

It was our first Christmas without #1 son, but we're just so happy that he's on his own & working. Living on a shoestring with some friends, but doing all right so far. He has some autism issues, so this is a gigantic step for him.

Santa brought me a new bike! I feel like I did when Santa brought me a bike when I was six, although I didn't jump up & down shrieking with joy this time. Just as delighted though :)

I feel guilty now saying Santa was really good to me. lol. Now that there are a lot of females in the family after I raised only boys and had no sister, I get a lot of neat things from the women because they actually put a lot of thought into gifts, unlike the opposite sex. :)

However, my dh let me get an iPad for Christmas. Pricey, but we don't make big purchases that often so I don't feel guilty.

I know I'm being materialistic right now, but I do wish world peace and all that! Plus, it's fun to get "toys" again, just like when I was a little girl. It's been a long long time!

I got the same new toy as you, Oakley. I am really having fun with my new iPad. Didn't even think I wanted one, LOL... I was wrong. DH is always very generous on Christmas so I also got a couple of necklaces and a pair of earrings, a blanket, and a Clairsonic Mia (which I found out about here!).

The funny thing is, as I have said here before, DH needs Very Specific Instructions about gifts. I need to literally ask for, and even show him (eg, on a web site) the item. So generally no surprises (besides the iPad) ever, but he is very generous and an all around great guy. So, I have a necklace from this artist named Dahlia Kanner and I have a hard time finding earrings that work well with this particular necklace because it is black (oxidized silver) and matte gold. I have a lot of silver earrings. Anyway, so I sent DH a link to her web site (he bought me the necklace in the first place, but he wouldn't have remembered where!) and mentioned several different pairs of EARRINGS that I loved, and explained to him that I wanted a pair to wear with that necklace. So on Christmas eve I received a box with Dahlia Kanner's name on it, so I knew it was earrings.... nope, it was a necklace!! Huh? I didn't ask for a necklace! I didn't say anything to DH because he was so happy about the necklace -- he thought it was really cool, and it is, but, uhh... I still need earrings! And this necklace is made from the same metals so I need earrings twice as much now, LOL. I guess Valentine's Day is coming...

lurkiish, glad you were pleasantly surprised!

awm03, hope your DH recovers quickly. Enjoy your boys.

oakleyok, DD1 is now at our home and has in iPad. I need to borrow and see what all the fuss is about. I have a MacBook Pro, and she has the AirBook. I would like a lighter daily computer.

We had a nice day. Our Christmas dinner (which was lunch for all your non-Southern peeps) was delicious. Enjoyed our company.

Our 30th anniversary was on Monday. DS and his fiance arrive this afternoon. So it's been a great week so far.

allison, happy 30th anniversary to you and your DH. At some times we were Southern peeps! Still miss living down south.

AWM, it sounds like you had a wonderful holiday. Your post in my other thread made me smile and this one made me smile even more. I just think that is the coolest thing!

Of course its fun to get toys Oak, enjoy and you shouldn't feel one bit guilty!

Sue, my DH is usually the same way, if it isn't on a list it passes him by completely. I'm not super techie and since my Blackberry sort of meets my needs I hadn't thought about it. The phones were a great surprise not only because of the cool things they do but because my hubby actually came up with the idea without a list!

Thanks Allison, just like Sue I didn't realize it was something I would like until he suggested it! I'm excited! 30 years, congrats! What a wonderful thing to celebrate!

Happy Anniversay Allison.

Santa brought me my cat who was marked for burial by my vet who misdiagnosed him with a brain tumor and all he had were sinus and ear infections. Thankfully I knew my cat better than she did. Second opinion by another vet to confirm my diagnosis and 13 days later my very sick cat is back to normal.

Christmas money that was very well spent.

That is wonderful Hiwthi, what a scary diagnosis and good example as to why we should always follow our instincts. I'm glad your kitty is going to be okay!

Allison, to give you an idea just how much fun the iPad is, I'm laying in bed right now, surfing the net, watching a movie and eating Baklava. Heaven! lol. My goal tonight is to conquer level 3 of Angry Birds. :)

We're having a wonderful holiday. We really count the days up to Christmas and through New Years as "the holiday". Hubby and I are always off work for an extended time (go back mid next week) and enjoy the time off together. We've been enjoying time with family and friends. My brother and his wife get here later tonight, so we'll have the next couple of days with them. On Christmas Eve, we felt like we witnessed a true Christmas miracle. We went first to the service at our church, then were going to the city and passed by the church I grew up in. We knew an extremely talented friend was singing "Oh Holy Night" and that her father would be accompanying her on the piano. This man played in our wedding, at many other family functions, even last year at my mother's funeral. He has been part of many family milestones. First week of October, he and his wife were in Mexcio when his colon burst. Many days in intensive care there, and he developed problems with his lungs, could not be taken off a respirator. He was finally life-flighted back here (thank goodness!) and just last week got out of rehab. His wheelchair was lifted onto the platform and he played like he has never played before, never missed a beat or note. I don't believe there was a dry eye in the house. He received not one, but two standing ovations. That was the best Christmas gift ever.

I got an ipad through work, but use my nook more. My iphone does much of what my ipad does and the nook is smaller. I'm not much into games though, so don't use that option.

Hiwith - so wonderful your cat is doing well! What a gift!! And Lynn - I can only imagine your joy to hear/see your son.

Today we went to a late lunch and a little antiquing. Friends stopped by shortly after and I am now just chilling! New furniture is to be delivered Thursday and we are going to do some more antiquing later in the week. I love this time of year!

Hope you all continue to enjoy this season!

tina

My Xmas Eve was exactly what I wanted. I had my whole family here (19 people), except for 2 nephews who had to work. We even met a new (this one is a keeper) girlfriend that blended right in to our family.

My only role was to grill the salmon, which worked out perfectly because then I was available to answer the "where would I find whatever" questions from the other cooks (my 4 sisters).

One niece (age 24) painted a picture of Hilton Head for me and the other (age 4 and 1/2) gave me a piece of art she created at the Paul Klee museum in Switzerland.

Oakley, so is eating Baklava more fun with an IPad? LOL I can't imagine it being any better than it is by itself.

Another sweets nut here.

Santa was so good, I/we feel a little guilty. MIL buys us literally a carload of gifts. Most of the stuff is wonderful and we are appreciative, but there are a couple of things we don't know where we are going to put them, and they're really not our style. They're from ebay, so they're really not returnable.

We have asked her to please cut back, but that hasn't worked. She buys items throughout the year.

OTOH, new fun things:

Digital remote meat thermometer. I opened it early so we could grill the tenderloin. Yes, I asked for a new meat thermometer, LOL.

Some iPhone accessories: a cassette adapter so I can broadcast through the speakers in my older Mustang and listen to the Sirius. His friend has this, and it works really well. It's called iDeck. It's also a hands-free phone device, so very useful. He also got me an armband so I can use it for exercise.

The "big" gift was a Kitchenaid mixer in Ice color. It was between the Ice and Cobalt blues, but Ice seems to be the better color. He is interested in using the meat grinder and sausage stuffer, so it's more of a gift for us than for me alone. I don't mind getting kitchen/cooking related things for Christmas since I enjoy cooking. MIL got me the new Bobby Flay cookbook, and someone on the kitchens forum said to try the carmelized onion pizza. I can make the dough in the new mixer.

That is one beautiful mixer! You chose the right color, IMO because it brightens the area. And it looks soooo retro!

Tina, I would have bawled like a baby. Now that's a true Christmas miracle! I do anyway when I hear that song, it really gets to me. Remember the old Halmark commercial with the brothers singing it?

Here's a cute story. Remember my topic early last week about me giving presens to the grands and my DS (it wasn't my DIL afterall) wanted me to stop except during the middle of the year?

My DIL took my grandson Henry, 3 yrs old, to The Dollar Tree Store so he could pick out a gift for every family member.

They found the cutest statutes about 4" tall and very well made, only a buck a piece.

When it came time for him to pick out my present he said, "Grandma wants a Santa." LOL!!!! After Presentgate last week, we all just cracked up.

Thanks!

That's great news about your cat, hiwthi.

And Tina, I can't imagine the joy inside the room when he played!

What a pretty mixer. Looks great with your tiles.

OK, I'm a tiny bit jealous of your Xmas gift scores. Jack, our pup, took care of my Christmas budget. I'm really not jealous. I don't usually get much for Xmas and that is quite fine with me. I love giving gifts and felt like I made thoughtful selections for each person. My gifts were a hit. Woo!

I received two pair of pajamas from Aimee. She must have gotten tired of complaining that I should buy myself new ones and 'get out of my old garb and get ups' that I call PJ's.

I received a beautiful handmade and heart felt poem/book mark from my new DIL. I posted a picture of it on Facebook. It means so much to me.

We received some coffee and a few bottles of wine. I received a single towel from my MIL.

I bought myself a new vacuum cleaner just before Xmas as my old one blew up.

My best gift was three days of continual celebration with the people I love the most. They make me feel cherished.

Hey, wait a minute! I just realized I asked for dish cloths and didn't get any. I thought I'd get too many since it was, I thought, a cheap and easy gift. I guess everyone thought someone else was getting them for me. I have been throwing out old ones counting on some new ones. I'd better add them to my shopping list while I'm thinking about it.

golddust: A single towel??? Maybe she was the woman I saw at our local Elder-Beerman using her $10 coupon off a $10 purchase buying one $11 towel. Was it white?:)
Dee

I did Christmas this year, it was enjoyable. I still have my mom who is ninty one who dressed to the nines this year and looked beautiful. God, I love my mommy.

My sister bought me an antique vegetable scale which came out of Eastern Market in Detroit. It will look great in my farm kitchen as soon as I can get it hung.

My mom bought me two infrared heaters and they work great. My girlfriend bought me Barefoot Contessa's cook book.

....Jane

Dee, no. My towel is a very pale blue. That must have been her twin. LOL!

Must be a trend, last year I received a single towel for our guest bathroom from someone. Saw it a couple of days later at Target and noticed they were sold out of all the other sizes. LOL

Hehe, Lukki. Maybe I have the mate. Wanna borrow mine?