Early Gift Exchange

We opened up our Holiday gifts yesterday. This has become our tradition since we always travel back to VT for the Holiday. Diane and I agreed we were only going to exchange small gifts and instead buy a leather couch in January.  I got a few CD’s – Alison Krauss and Union Station – one of my new favorites this year. I am listening to them right now : ). Diane got me several organizing things to humor my anal retentive side. One of them was a collection of "Tupperware" type containers and a rotating holder. I proceeded to throw all the old stuff onto the kitchen floor. The cats went scampering away in a hurry! They thought I was nuts. Last week I was complaining about the cluttered cabinet and couldn’t find anything to store leftovers in. Diane and Justin had to stifle a laugh then since they knew about the upcoming gift already.  Diane and I really are line Felix and Oscar (That’s The Odd Couple for any youngsters reading this).

I got Diane a glass rose (to remind her of Abe Lincoln), slippers, and a new journal with Chihuahuas on it.  I also brought home some chocolates from Switzerland for each of them. Justin got the guitar amplifier he has been wanting. The Peavy 5150 model is no longer made but we found one on e-bay.

I was going to list all the gifts here but, in retrospect, it’s just not that important. I enjoyed the time spent more than the actual gifts. Sorry for the disjointed entry.

What really does matter is I got an e-mail from one of my best friends from Indiana. He has a close friend who is having medical problems and has been out of work for months. The Holidays were not looking too great for them so Randy solicited donations from several of us and he went to Walmart to purchase a gift certificate. We raised $700 and Walmart added $200.   It’s a nice feeling to help friends in need. Feels even better than some of the other donations we make.

On the down side we just found out that our old cat, Curly, has been peeing on the braided rug my mother made. What’s worse, the pee soaked into the joints on the new laminate floor I put down this year. There is a small warped spot!  We’re doing the kitty litter thing tonight and hoping we don’t have to put her down before we go away..