Ready or Not

I actually went shopping yesterday. This may not have been the best choice considering my disdain for chaos and crowds, but since shopping time was running out I suddenly had a clear vision of what I still needed to buy. Fortunately I didn't need to get a lot, but it still proved to be a challenging outing. I fear my good-cheer levels were at a seasonal low. I will say I think my hormone levels (PMS) and the combination of the incredibly bright sunshine being reflected off the snow were both key contributors to my grumpy state of mind. I'm light sensitive on a cloudy day, so you can imagine how rough it is for me on a truly sunny, snow-covered day. Not good. It's pretty much a recipe for a headache.




This is one of the shelves I saw at Target yesterday! I was looking for stocking-stuffer treats and had taken this aisle (normally full of already assembled neighbor-type gifts) as a detour route because of the traffic jam of carts on the aisle I needed. I couldn't believe the shelves were literally bare. There was such a shopping frenzy going on yesterday that I can imagine someone came in and swiped the entire contents of the shelves into their cart then happily exclaimed "I'm done!" I hope that wasn't the case, there's nothing quite as thoughtful as rushing into a store then grabbing something while thinking "This will work."

I got home at 4:00 and had a half hour before we needed to be at the church to clean. I was wasted and tried to cram some rest in by lying down on my bed with my cozy blanket. The time passed too quickly, but I think it helped. We met another small family at the church and cleaned for an hour and 15 minutes. When we got home I put my jammies on (oh so cozy) and decided to read on my bed in the cozy. Of course, I fell asleep! I ended up sleeping until 4:40am this morning. Crazy, but at least my headache is gone.

wassail

\WAH-sul; wah-SAYL\, noun:
1. An expression of good wishes on a festive occasion, especially in drinking to someone.
2. An occasion on which such good wishes are expressed in drinking; a drinking bout; a carouse.
3. The liquor used for a wassail; especially, a beverage formerly much used in England at Christmas and other festivals, made of ale (or wine) flavored with spices, sugar, toast, roasted apples, etc.
4. Of or pertaining to wassail, or to a wassail; convivial; as, a wassail bowl.
5. To drink to the health of; a toast.
6. To drink a wassail.

This is the word of the day which was emailed to me by dictionary.com. I enjoy reading a new word each day and am always pleased if I know the definition already (geek). I was surprised to learn the definitions of the word wassail because I always thought it was a warm, holiday drink. It makes that line in the song "and to you your wassail too" make more sense. How about that?

{The cousins at our family Christmas 2004}

So today is sort of like Christmas for us because we're getting together with my family (though it will be weird without Robyn, Jared and the kids this year) for lunch and to exchange presents. I enjoy doing this on Christmas Eve because I like being able to stay home on Christmas Day, plus it's a fun way to get things started. I still need to wrap the gifts to take today and make a dessert of some kind. Fortunately I'm up really early this morning, so I shouldn't have any problem getting these things done. We only have 1 hour of church today and it should be a nice Christmas program so that will be nice too.

**Did you brave shopping yesterday?
Does bright light give you a headache?
What do you do for Christmas Eve?**

Happy Birthday to Alison and Austin!

My Pink Christmas gift did NOT arrive yet, but Kristi has told me it is well worth the wait. So whoever sent it, do not fear, I will just have something nice to look forward to in the mail next week after all the hoopla is over. That's fine by me.