Shopping, Soundtracks, and Sixty-six

Christmas shopping has begun enormously, extremely, and terribly late this year in our little household. But because of the tardiness of my annual trek, I've been looking at Amazon for some ideas. I found something absolutely amazing.

The soundtrack to Band of Brothers.

Read the book - watched the HBO series on DVD that a friend of mine had. The one thing about the series that haunted me every time we watched an episode was the music. Incredible!

So call me stunned when I came across it on Amazon. It now sits comfortably on my wish list just waiting for Santa to bring it to me (okay, okay - so I'm Santa - I'm still getting it in my stocking!).

Looks like alot of my Christmas shopping will be through Amazon this year. At the moment, I barely have time to breathe, much less shop. Friday I had neither breakfast nor lunch and squeezed in a little dinner on my way home from work by going through a drive-thru (my son left on a weekend camping trip).

You'd think I'd be losing some weight with all the meals I've missed in the new job - but I digress.

So I've told my sisters (hint, hint AGAIN if you're reading this) that I'll be doing CD's and DVD's for the nieces and nephews this year. Really anything that I can find through Amazon because I don't see myself getting out into the stores anytime soon. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Just think of all the dollars I'll be saving by not driving around and burning up gasoline. Plus on Amazon you get free shipping.

What more could a girl ask for - ah, one of my two favorite four-letter words - FREE!

Anything right now to make the shopping process a little easier. Now if only I could get my son to start making his list and checking it twice. Sixty-six more shopping days left!

How's your Christmas list?

A Christmas Eve Memory

And so it is Christmas Eve.

I remember last year - our first year in our lovely new home. I was still so exhausted from the move and associated stressors that I didn't do a whole heck of alot of decorating except the tree.

It's kinda funny - this year we got our tree on time but due to rushing right from Thanksgiving to the play, we did not decorate it for two solid weeks. Felt a little bad, but the play took a bit of time (duh!).

So what do I find myself doing this Christmas Eve? Finishing decorating, of course. My boss was so kind since the weather was so bad last night that he told us since it was only going to be a half day to not worry about coming in this morning.

What a Merry Christmas present that was!

So with the extra time around the house today, I'm finally putting up a few more decorations and getting the stockings hung with care (we have no chimney). Then I'm going to bake a pumpkin pie, since it is the only kind my son likes, and then tonight we'll make Christmas cookies for Santa.

Okay, okay - I know my son is sixteen, but there are just some traditions that are still fun. We never did the "Santa" thing much anyway, but it's still neat to bake cookies together and spend that time having conversation or just being silly.

Isn't that one of the reasons for celebrating Christmas? Isn't family time what it's all about?

Makes me think of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. Even before they were married, God started their family and still brought them together to raise His son as their own. Reminds me that God is as much in the little, ordinary, mundane things of life as much as the big things.

So enjoy this Christmas celebrating the gift of family as we remember the Holy Family this season.

Merry Christmas from Kansas!