First things first: I love you. You are so kind and generous of heart and so supportive. When I post things like I did yesterday, I immediately feel like I should delete the post. It makes me feel so self-pitying and like I’m fishing for optimism and super vulnerable. Thank you for reading and being so lovely.
DRASTIC TONE AND SUBJECT CHANGE
I took one day off from posting about holiday stuff and now I’m BACK with holiday topics!
1. I have been taking all your advice about gifting. Gigi said I should buy the gift for my friend; Jenny said that she has never regretted the gifts she bought but has sometimes regretted not getting a gift – so I went back to the store and bought the T-shirt that made me think of her. And I included a little note that basically said, I know things are awful, I’m sorry for my part in it, and I will be here if and when you are ready. Ugh ugh ugh. I mailed it, so it’s on its way to her and there’s nothing any of us can do at this point, but I hope it doesn’t make things worse. SKIPPING PAST THIS PAINFUL PART. I also used Jenny’s comment as an excuse to buy my husband a pair of pajama pants. He’d asked for some, and I’d dutifully sent the request along to his family, so it’s possible he will get pajama pants from them as well. But a person cannot have too many pairs of pajama pants. I also bought Starbucks gift cards for three of Carla’s extra-curricular instructors per Swistle’s suggestion and, in a nod to Lindsay’s comment, Carla made a mug for the fourth. We got the housekeeper some fancy candy, in addition to an extra payment. The exterminator is coming next week (silverfish and spiders have decided to spend their holidays with us and I have decided that I don’t like that), so I will do candy and some cash for him. (I adore him, and ever since the last debacle with the pest control company, have dealt only with him which has made life better for everyone, except, perhaps, the exterminator himself.) My husband and I agreed to buy the alarm clock for Carla. I didn’t even have to sway him with all your pro-alarm-clocks-as-gifts statements, although I had them all in my back pocket. In deference to Carla’s preference for wearing All Black Only Black All the Time, we also purchased a pair of faux leather leggings that I think she is going to LOVE. I couldn’t get my husband to agree on any of the perfectly adorable tops I wanted to get her, but I did end up buying her two plain black long-sleeved tees from Primary.
2. The menorah is up! Past Me cleaned it quite thoroughly last year, so all I had to do was set it up. We also have plenty of candles (yay! This is never true!) and even some gelt that I hope is from this year and not several years old. Please forgive the fact that the menorah is set up on my Christmas runner. We celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas, so there is naturally some mixing. However, when I asked my husband whether we could put Carla’s Hanukkah gift under the tree, he was quite definitive.
I also bought some frozen latkes from Trader Joe’s, so we are all set… not that I have any idea what ELSE we will eat for any night of Hanukkah except the night that coincides with Christmas.
3. I have already done A Lot of wrapping. It feels… good, I guess? Except that I am awaiting all the gifts from family that may or may not require wrapping. Now that I know how expensive shipping is (SO EXPENSIVE), I am trying to view my relatives’ decision to have Amazon, Target, etc. mail their gifts for them, even if they do arrive unwrapped, with more grace. In the past, I have viewed it crankily as a lack of pre-planning… but it may also be a cost-cutting measure, which I completely understand. (I also understand procrastinating, but… it still makes me a tiny bit cranky.) What I did the other day was wrap all the stocking stuffers. I may have gone a teensy bit overboard in the stocking stuffer department. But stocking stuffers are just so fun! I don’t remember if stocking stuffers were wrapped when I was a kid, but my husband’s family wraps them, so we wrap them as well.
My husband’s family also has stocking stuffers come from entities other than Santa, which is cute but a little perplexing. Plus, it means that every stocking stuffer needs a gift tag. I am SURE we didn’t do that when I was growing up; it was just understood that Santa filled the stocking. Plus… how do you determine who signs for which gifts? For example: my husband got Carla a set of guitar picks decorated with cats. (She will LOVE them.) He said they should be from Santa’s elves… and then changed his mind to Santa’s cat. A) I already “disguise” my handwriting on the gift tags that say they are from Santa, but I really have only so many ways to change my writing style. B) Why does Santa’s cat deliver guitar picks and Mrs. Claus deliver a new ornament? C) How does Rudolph even WRITE a gift tag? He has hooves, not even paws with which he might plausibly hold a pen?
4. My husband bought me some English toffee from Trader Joe’s as a gift. But then I accidentally saw it and so he gave it me early. He said he’d heard me say, in passing, that toffee is my weakness. This is, sadly, true. And I have eaten my way through more than half of this quite husky container.
5. The number of holiday cards we are getting is slowly creeping up. We are at fifteen today, which is better than a few days ago but still nowhere near the level I would expect. Oh well. I just sent out some more cards yesterday, and I have three more to address and mail, so who am I to question the lack of cards? Maybe everyone’s a little behind.
What’s new with you this Friday?
It sounds like the preparations are coming along very well. I would rather do something than nothing; I would have fewer regrets that way. I’m glad you sent the shirt and note. It’s all you can do yet you did something! (better than nothing) That toffee looks like Almond Roca which was big around here in the past. Now I’m afraid I would break a tooth on it. Old age, yay! Not.
Almond roca! Yes it sounds very similar!
Rudolph writes with a pen in his mouth. Of course. I can’t believe you have ever questioned this!
We are up to eleven holiday cards today because we got four in the mail this morning. I am hoping there will be a huge surge in the next few days.
😂 Of course!
I love the idea of Santa’s friends and helpers filling stockings! How clever! (Until I’m the one having to disguise 5 different entities’ handwritings, I’m sure!)
I’m feeling like maybe I over-purchased this year. Heh. Something just arrived that I’d forgotten I bought for my husband. That almost never happens so I guess I’m going to lean into it? Maybe we need (he needs) a little extra joy? Hope the bank account concurs.
A little extra joy definitely ❤️
That toffee looks amazing.
We are Team Wrap All the Stocking Gifts over here. Years ago I spent Christmas with my husband’s family and they had done up a stocking for me…and nothing was wrapped?! I was truly perplexed. Everyone just dumped all the contents out of their stocking and…stockings were over. SO anti-climactic to me.
My kids don’t – and have never – believed in Santa. This disappoints me a bit because, hello magic, but also it just was never something they latched on to. So I have zero advice for the various iterations of outside gifts.
Ha – I never thought of it as being anti climactic! But I suppose it could seem that way, after expecting everything to be wrapped!
Carla and her All Black All The Time is a girl after my own heart! It goes with everything! It’s the perfect shade. I’m glad you bought the alarm clock AND the tee for your friend. Now you’ll never have to wonder “what if I had reached out one more time” because you have.
I don’t wrap the stocking gifts, which historically have been “from Santa” and Santa just did not have the spoons for that in this house. It’s all I can do to wrap the gifts I have to wrap (note to self, just wrap the remaining gifts. I am 75% done and I just have to DO ITTTTT). We still say the stockings are from Santa and the boys just silently nod and smile.
As soon as the guys get home we are decorating gingerbread. Follow my instagram for pinterest-worthy decorating! Or hideous gingerbread men that will all be disturbing or obscene in some way. Tomorrow we are watching Christmas Vacation. AND WHY IS THE CARPET ALL WET, TODD? Remember that metal plate in my head? Where are you going to put a tree that size?
It all sounds so fun and festive, Nicole! Hooray!
Gotta love it when a plan comes together. I love toffee but I can’t even buy it since I’m the only one in my house who eats it and so I’d end up eating the whole tin and in a hurry.
The amount of toffee I’ve eating is quite disturbing. Quite. Disturbing.
I’m so very glad you bought the shirt. You will never, ever regret doing so; even if the rift is never healed. But, we shall hope that it is healed in time.
In this house, stockings are stuffed by Santa and Santa alone. And, particularly, at this house Santa is far too busy to wrap stocking stuffers. As it is, some years it’s a miracle those stockings are stuffed at all.
I am *this* close to being done with gift shopping and next week will be spent sourcing stocking stuffers and baking – I hope.
That toffee is the sweetest gift, literally and figuratively, because he heard what you said and remembered it. I love toffee too…now I guess a trip to Trader Joe’s is in order. It might also show up in a stocking or two.
I’m definitely behind on my cards- at this point it’s getting questionable whether they’ll get there on time or not, but I’m sending them anyway… on Monday.
You are very dedicated to wrap every single stocking stuffer! I only wrap some of ours. Basically I wrap all the big gifts and whatever scraps of paper are left over I use for the stocking stuffers. I’m torn on the different givers of the stocking stuffers… the idea is super cute but I think it would put me over the edge. I can’t even get all the stocking stuffers wrapped, much less write gift tags, and then on top of all that come up with clever ideas like “Santa’s cat.” On the other hand… it probably makes the stocking even more fun for Carla.
I’m glad you got your friend the t-shirt… now I hope it works out. But if it doesn’t, you weren’t in the wrong for sending a gift. I also took my own advice and went ahead and got a couple things I was hesitating on, and I’m glad I did.
Enjoy your toffee!
I AM VERY NEAR THE EDGE JENNY.
Just weighing in to say I normally send my cards the 1st-ish of December and this year they are going out tomorrow. I, too, hope everyone else is behind as well. Our card wall is sparse thus far.
I sent all my cards out today – so yes to being a little behind (although, I usually don’t send cards before the middle of December). I am just not ready to deal with Christmas Cards in November.
I haven’t tried the toffees from Trader Joe’s (they have so many great holiday snacks), but now I think I might have to.
BTW, I absolutely love wrapping gifts and sending packages, but I have – sadly – resorted to having things shipped directly from a retailer, because postage has gotten so expensive (I often pay more for shipping than for the gift and I’d race spend more on the gift) and sending overseas is just so time-consuming and unreliable to guarantee delivery on time. It’s sad, as I like the part of packing packages, but oh well. That’s my explanation, if you needed one.
*rather
We don’t have any kids of Santa-age left, but we still have conflicting stocking protocol. In Beth’s family, everything in the stocking is unwrapped and unattributed, but I like to get credit for my stocking gifts, so I will sometimes wrap and put gift tags on them, even though we generally spend the holiday with her her family.
I had most of my gifts sent directly to recipients and unwrapped this year mostly because of time considerations. I got a late start on my shopping, with so much going on at home and getting covid over Thanksgiving.
Oh, very interesting that the stocking stuffers are wrapped! I have never seen them that way. I agree with the others about the shirt for your friend; you extended an olive branch (and I love note you enclosed for her) and it’s really up to her now.
I have been sending a lot of gifts directly from merchants because shipping is so expensive and since I am a procrastinator, I don’t have the time to make sure the item gets to the recipient on time. I do remember most of the time to pay for wrapping. I don’t buy all gift-wrapped because the cost also adds up — luckily, my niece said she loves wrapping so she gets to wrap the presents from us to her kids. 🙂
My son only wanted two things — and they’re not the things that can be wrapped and put under the tree, not to mention $$. It feels like I don’t have enough for him! So I purposely didn’t buy a lot for my husband, either…because with just the 3 of us on Christmas day, it would look too lopsided if dad got 10 presents and he got 3! LOL
I am a little late, but my Christmas prep is on pause since I am in bed with covid. I keep telling myself at least it isn’t Christmas Eve, which would force me to cancel Christmas with my side of 33 people. Things will get done – I have no idea how, but they will.
So, here I am – catching up on blogs. I do not wrap the stocking gifts. We once had Mrs. Claus deliver an American Girl doll who needed a repair, but otherwise we do not involve any other gift-givers from the North Pole. I’m laughing at the gift from Santa’s cats.
I’m glad you sent the t-shirt. I have a few people like this in my life and it is so very painful and heartwrenching. Life is short and I so wish we could just accept or address the misstep and move on. Sorry that you are going through that.
Oh no! Ernie! I hope you have a mild case and it doesn’t go through the rest of the family!
Isn’t advice from our blog friends the best? I’m also happy you got the T-Shirt and mailed it with a nice note to The Friend.
I, too would have been cranky about people sending unwrapped gifts, but it is such a different world now, right? Grace! We all need it.
We never wrap stocking gifts which is such a delight for me. Now, my girls add stuff for everyone’s stockings too, so I’m always asking who is this from? It’s a fun game we play.
Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Past me left my menorah full of wax in the freezer **whomp whomp**
This year, I told myself I had to wrap at least 3 gifts every day so that I wouldn’t have a huge backlog of presents to wrap by the time Christmas week came around. Thankfully, I don’t have a TON of gifts to wrap in comparison to people with kids, but it can get messy if I don’t keep up with it. And now I’m certain I left this exact comment on a different post of yours, so I’m really just over here repeating myself over and over again.