Christmas brought me...

• A Christmas Eve family gathering in my home. I don't usually volunteer our home for gatherings, as it is smaller than everyone else's home. It gets hot and crowded, everytime. Since we have two small children, there is kid stuff everywhere that no one else has. My hosting was long overdue, so I invited the family over. I was very proud of my home...even if we did need to open the windows to cool off!
• Laughter...as noted in my previous post.
• Joyous children. We admittedly bought too much for our kids this year. Evan isn't old enough to request anything, but Ella sure did catch on. I really think she got everything she asked for...and some, of course, and it was wonderful. It was great to watch her thumb through a catalog, pick something out and already know that she'd be receiving it for Christmas. It's so fun to watch them play with their new goodies...it'd be nice if there was no fighting involved. Wishful thinking.
• Movie passes, silver hoop earrings, Vera Bradley goodies, several CDs, two movies, a Cricut cartridge, yummy lotion, a new Wii game, and $50. You already know about Mr. Wonderful and my new Hunk!!
• Closer to a wonderful getaway with my hubby. Details later.
• Trash. It destroyed my house. I worked so hard cleaning for Christmas Eve. We cleaned up after the party, but then the Christmas morning tornado rolled through...and we had to leave it to go to my aunt's for Christmas dinner. When we got home, I was in instant clean-up mode. Everyone's gifts went into their proper rooms. Trash was collected. Boxes were broken down. It was all hauled outside. Gone. Hallelujah! Tonight we had our last Christmas gathering when our friends, the Phillips', came over to exchange gifts with our children. When they left, we un-Christmased the house. We got it all packed up and put away right after we put the kids to bed. It's amazing how quickly that stuff comes down...sure didn't go up that quickly.
• Bronchitis and Sinusitis. I really didn't feel bad until I was cleaning up Christmas night. I must be allergic to cleaning. I felt it start in my chest/throat. Within two hours of noticing that something was up, I diagnosed myself with bronchitis. I had my first-ever bout with it earlier this year, and that case got bad. I shuffled laundry around Wednesday, you know, wash, dry, pile it up...but I really didn't do much of anything else. I made it to the doctor's office in the late afternoon where my hunch was confirmed. I was given a breathing treatment and a sinus cocktail shot. Love the sinus cocktail shot. I have a trip coming up and I do NOT need to be under the weather! Now I'm taking hand-granade-sized antibiotics. Illness Be Gone!
• Contentment. I'm happy with every event, every gift, every moment with my family. I'm happy that I have a loving husband and beautiful children. I am so very blessed.