Happy Holidays

It has always been a tradition in my family to open gifts at Christmas Eve at midnight. This is because my mother's family did it this way when she was a child, and since my parents did not teach Sisters and I about Santa Claus, we continued the custom. There have been various years where we've been too tired to stay up until midnight, so we opened them early. We did this last night, at around 10:30 p.m. The kids made out like bandits and were very excited, naturally. I did pretty well myself:

• Bluetooth and car charger for my phone
• Knitting Pattern-A-Day 2009 Calendar
• Baby blue bathrobe with snowflakes on it
• Various pairs of funky Christmas socks (from Sister)
• A sweater (from Sister)
• A book light (from Sister)
• A statue of a geisha that I wanted several years ago but forgot about (from Sister)
• Beatles DVDs (from Sister)
• Four butterfly shaped candles (from Kid Sisters)
• Birthstone earrings
• A body spray set

I think that my presents went over well too. I gave Kid Sister #1 knitting needles and yarn (as per request), Kid Sister #2 some books that she really liked, and Baby Sister a coloring book and crayons. Mother and Sister got homemade scarves. I also made Sister a scrapbook about Father, including pictures of him from his childhood and little remembrances of his life. I was excited for her to open it, but I immediately felt terrible when she took one look at it and burst into tears. She assured me that she really liked it, and I know she did... I guess I should have seen that coming. It made me really miss him as well. We always opened presents at midnight with him (except the last few years when he was incapacitated).

Today we are going to visit Grandmother, his mother. I am hoping we can slightly brighten her Christmas. She did not want to celebrate it at all this year.