After 5 days, 1200 miles and only 10 minutes of family dysfunction, we returned safely home from our Christmas tour. It was all good. Highlights:
- Surviving 2 full days of pre-Christmas shopping at Raleigh's premiere malls with humor still in tact
- Baking Gingernut cookies with my mother.
- Listening to English medieval Christmas carols--I am 100% dork, afterall...
- Watching my daughters learn, with much grace and maturity, that Christmas is no longer a self-centered holiday. Sometimes, the best Christmas present is simply being with those you love. period.
- Sausage Cheese Balls! Good god, those little Bisquick boogers are addictive...
- Returning home to see Harley and Mister Man.
So now we get to the fun part: Examining the Gifts. By far my favorite special family gift this year was the automatic Table Butler by Park Avenue. This one came from way out in left field and left me wondering-- Do I look in need of a molded plastic hand which operates on two C batteries and which passes the salt or pepper at the speed of 15 minutes/hour? I think it was perhaps just a lark or momentary lapse of judgment by the giver, but it now has a temporary place of honor upon our kitchen table. Christmas kitchen Kitsch , if you will... Other years I have received similar delightful gifts such as this freak of nature as well as this abominable snowman . You decide. Did y'all get any cool gifts? Please share.
