Daughter and I had a late brunch. We decided not to make pancakes, after all! Instead, she had toast with butter and her apple/cranberry jam and I had an egg salad sandwich.
Then, I picked a bag of lemons to take to my friend's house and got dressed to go to her house to Christmas dinner.
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| Santa Bearing Gifts! |
My friend had prepared Sri Lankan yellow rice and curries for dinner. There was one other young Sri Lankan couple with their 7-months old baby, besides my daughter and I. As I observed to my daughter, I have an almsgiving and my Catholic friends and family attend and my friend, who is Catholic, invites her Buddhist friends to celebrate Christmas with her. After dinner, we exchanged gifts and then, it was time for my daughter and I to leave to join my Aunt T at her home for the family gift exchange!
At Aunt's home, we were joined by two of my cousins and their children. We spent some time visiting and then, exchanged gifts.
After we came home, daughter and I relaxed and she tried on her gifts (she received mostly clothes, some costume jewelry, and hair accessories). I, too, received some new sweaters and blouses, a lovely shawl, bath salts and hand soap, costume jewelry, a set of monogrammed holiday towels, and a picture frame with a selection of photos taken at my cousin's son's wedding, including one of the bride and groom lighting my brass lamp!
On Christmas Day, I was grateful for:
- My daughter being home to celebrate the day with me
- Friend A inviting us to her house to dinner
- Being able to be with aunt and cousins, later in the evening
- The lovely gifts we received
- Safe drives to and from
This morning, I was woken by yet another phone call, but it was one I could ignore, so I did. I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't, so I got up and had a cup of coffee.
Later in the morning, I went to the library. I had a book that was due that I wanted to return. It was a book I had checked out, along with another book, earlier. I had gone to the library to return that other book and to check out this book, again. I hadn't looked at the check out slip they inserted into the library book when I did that, but, when I looked at the check out slip on Christmas Eve to verify the due date (due 12/26), I noticed that the check out slip showed that the library had made a mistake and checked out that other book to me, as well! The one I returned and which I no longer had with me! I drove over to the library on Christmas Eve afternoon, when I realized that, but, the library had closed earlier in the afternoon and, of course, they were closed over Christmas.
So, this morning, when I went to the library, I explained the situation to the librarian. I was able to locate the previously returned book on the library shelves, so they cleared my record and I checked out two new books. I've gone online and checked my library account to verify that I currently have only the two books I checked out this morning, charged to me!
In the afternoon, my daughter went to visit one of her friends. I started reading one of my new library books, put away some laundry, did another load and hung it up to dry, put away the last of the almsgiving dishes, and cleared out the laundry room, as the new washer and dryer are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow morning! I pushed some of the furniture (living room and family room sofas, the family room table, etc.) aside to make room for the delivery people to bring in the new items and take out the old ones. I am hoping the delivery and installation will go off without any difficulties or problems!
Neighbor T called me in the afternoon and asked if I could meet her at the side wall between our two houses; when I went over to the wall to see if she needed anything, she handed me a box of chocolates as her Christmas gift to me!
Later, I called one of my cousins and had a long chat with her.
Today, I am grateful for:
- The library book situation was taken care of without any problem!
- New library books to read
- Confirmation that the new washer and dryer will be delivered tomorrow
- Being able to clear the laundry room
- Being able to tidy the house a bit
Thursday's To Do List:
- Have the new washer and dryer delivered and installed
- Have the old washer and dryer removed and taken away
- Do a load of laundry to try out the new appliances
- Put everything back in the laundry room
- Wrap the rest of my holiday/New Year's gifts
Hope each and everyone of you enjoyed your Christmas holidays. What are your plans for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day?
I love reading your gratitude list on every post. It reminds me that we all have so much to be grateful for, but you take the time to note it. It is a wonderful gift you share each time I read it.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you had a lovely day with friends and family.
Aw, thank you, Anne! That's a lovely thing to say. :)
DeleteIt sounds like you had a lovely Christmas day. I'm glad you got the issue of the library book sorted out - my brother was nearly taken to court over unpaid fines and the cost of a book which they said he hadn't returned. He had a final meeting with them, in the presence of his and their solicitors, and insisted that they all go to check the shelves and also their records. Of course they found the book straight away and their records showed that it had been loaned out numerous times since my brother had returned it, but then tried to make out that they weren't to blame for the error!
ReplyDeleteI did have a good Christmas, with family and friends. Oh, your poor brother! I'm glad that was resolved without having to go to courts! Even so, he would have had to pay his solicitor's fees! I'm glad my situation got resolved without any difficulties!
DeleteSounds like you had a lovely Christmas Day. I love those santa nesting boxes - what a great idea to put the gifts in those! Yikes on the library books! I had something similar happen with a DVD I had rented from the library. Luckily mine was easily fixed too.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy reading your new library books. Now that the holidays are over and things are calming down I hope to get some more reading in.
It was a lovely day, Sharon. I thought of you missing your daughter and realized just how blessed I was to have mine with me. The Santa boxes transformed the gifts to something a little more, I thought. :)
DeleteGlad your library returns turned out well. I used to work in the library at the university, when I was doing my undergrad studies, so I know how easy it is to make a mistake when checking things in and out. I am enjoying the books I borrowed; I hope that, you, too, will find more time to read, now that the holiday rush is over.
I really like your Santa gift boxes. Did you make them, Bless?
ReplyDeleteNo, I didn't make them, Nil. The set came in a box. I think it is meant to be a decoration, but I thought it made a good gift container. One could buy a set of 3 round hat boxes and cover them to make a Santa, though - maybe a project for next year?
DeleteThat is the cutest Santa to hold gifts! I'm glad you had a lovely Christmas Day and it is so right that Catholics and Buddhists welcome each other and celebrate together at their special feasts. How nice to be able to go on to a family visit for the rest of the day.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoyed our Christmas with our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, and they were able to stay 2 nights for a change which made for a more relaxed visit, which included bonfires in the yard and walking down to the river where the ice is strong enough to go out on. It was -20°C last night! I've had a sore throat since Saturday and my cold finally developed today. I didn't get to church but I did watch a Christmas Eve mass on the computer. Otherwise, I've enjoyed being with the family and I guess I need to rest up now for a while!
Thank you, Bushlady, he IS cute, isn't he? I am glad you were able to celebrate Christmas with your son, DIL, and granddaughter, and they were able to spend 2 nights. I'm sorry to hear that you are having a cold, however. I hope you take it easy and rest for the next few days and recover from that cold. Wrap up warmly when you go outside!
DeleteI also have a Santa set of boxes, but not nearly as ornate as yours. Yours is covered in red velvet, whereas mine is mostly printed cardboard. But I adore my Santa and I have used him for years. I think it came one year with different treats in each box, with caramel popcorn in the biggest one at the bottom. I use the different sections to store some of my decorations away at the end of the season, and it is used as a decoration during Christmas. One year I presented my friend with 3 gifts in 3 square boxes of varying sizes. I wrapped all three in white paper, glued buttons on the middle box and drew a happy snowman face on the top box. I wrapped a scarf between the top and middle box. You are right about the presentation being well received. Unfortunately, once my presents were unwrapped, the snowman was destroyed. But it was still a fun gift.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I remember seeing that photo of your snowman gift boxes! In fact, I've been wanting to copy the idea, myself! I have a set of nested Christmas tree shaped cardboard boxes, too, that I bought one year, on an after-Christmas sale. They are plain cardboard, with an embossed design - meant to be painted and decorated, I think. I haven't got around to doing that, yet - maybe for next Christmas. This year, I received a stack of red foil covered boxes filled with goodies from a niece. I will be saving the boxes to reuse, next year! :)
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