I knew what I was getting but I Love it even more then a surprise! I got Nordic walking poles, and we actually got enough snow to make it look Christmassy outside! That has only happened on about 3 Christmases I remember in the Pacific Northwest! Perfect snow as it is not cold enough to freeze on the street. But I was able to go out for a walk in the blowing snow with my nordik poles and man, are they great! They take the pressure off of knees and hips and redistribute it through the upper arms. I walked about twice as far as I usually can and enjoyed every minutes of it! We have our youngest 3 kids home for Christmas. This is the first time in a year our autistic daughter has been able to come home, but she is doing well, compared with some of the past years. I think we will even be able to make it into an overnight stay so papa does not have to spend 3 hours driving her home and coming back in the dark! Little sister is so excited...she is signing on her first condo on New Years Eve day, and sorting out the things in her bedroom so that I will get it for a sewing room/guest room. Our youngest son is enjoying having the girls around but still being able to to what he likes, sleeping at the moment I think. Papa Bear is playing on his computer that we got a month ago when he needed it so he did not have to wait for it today...it is all set up and he can play with his programs. Our oldest son is spending the day with his fiance and step daughter to be, and their friends. And we will call our daughter in Maine soon. THis is about as low stress as a holiday gets around here...I like it! Today I am still enjoying and totally enchanted with Pink Surprise. What a lovely big frilly flower and ever day it just gets better! Soon the second stalk will be opening. I also have 2 Faro's and 2 Exoticas opening. And those prescious dark red varieties are shooting buds up tall, so I may have some of them by the end of the week. Most fun gift besides my Nordic poles was from my youngest daughter, who is an interior designer, bringing her color sample box and helping me choose new colors for my study. We ended up with nice desert sandstone colors called Emberglow and Peppery. Now if she just offered to paint it for me :-/...It will look terrifics with Apricot Sensation, or Faro or.....blooming!

Wow, lots of neat traditions. I find shopping for gifts wearying. I usually start in October and try to be finished by the end of November. I try to leave time in December for decorating, cookie baking and wrapping gifts. We are also away for about 9 days total in December as our kids play in 2 international junior squash tournaments and so this takes a huge chunk out of our Christmas preparation time and also means we cannot have a real tree as we are away and can't water it. We buy for our 3 kids, in-laws, our staff (about 8 people), couple of aunts and uncles, and assorted family. We have done a draw for the family in previous years so that all the adults names are put in a hat and each person then draws and only has to buy 1 gift. But this has fallen by the wayside as part of the family had moved away and sometimes comes back for Christmas and sometimes doesn't. I am more conscious now in trying to buy gifts that are useful or consumable as we all know how easy clutter comes into our homes and how difficult and time consuming it is to take it back out. Traditionally my DH and I usually buy small gifts for each other, most of which will fit in our stockings, requisite gifts are chocolate bars, socks, paperbacks, I always receive a "For Better or For Worse" comic book and the year's stamp set (Canadian), and a CD, you get the idea. We also buy lots of little things for the kids' stockings. Sometimes there may be one big gift for the family (one year it was a large screen T.V. ) and then, the other gifts will be smaller and fewer. I usually get an Odyssey set of tapes (from Focus on the Family) as one of the gifts for the kids as we do lots of driving trips and the kids like listening to them in the car. Just wrapping all the stocking gifts takes forever, but they are so much fun to open Christmas morning. Christmas Eve, the family goes to Church as our Church does not have a Christmas morning service. Then we open presents Christmas morning, have brunch and relax and then start cooking Christmas dinner late afternoon, in-laws come and another round of gift opening takes place. I really like it that we don't have to go anywhere on Christmas day, it really is quite relaxing. My DH jokes that it's the only day in the whole year when the car doesn't leave the driveway!

every year, my husband's family promises 'token gifts only' and every year we cheat. pitched in last year, and got mom a new stereo for the kitchen. the year before, we got dad the 'ultra white' light he had been qketching was too expensive, couldn't possibly work like that ;) but I discovered patchwork this year, and in the process of making my first lap rugs, was left with some squares that gave me the bright idea to do pot holder sets for everyone who ought to get a gift, but whom we're not so connected with we know what old movie or oddity they would like (the drummer gets sticks, the artists get nice brushes or art 'rolls' to store them in) so everyone's getting really cool, oversized potholders (a pair of 10" squares, and a larger 'trivet' that run 11x17 or so) in colors to match their kitchen, or their dishes, or their dining room, depending on how they usually cook ;) and I only have two sets that I needed to BUY fabric for, everything else was stuff I had on hand (ok, I'm a fabric packrat) :)

Last year I served fantastic shrimp and grits, Scotch eggs, ham and cheese biscuits and orange slices. This year I'm gonna try this, it's a new recipe: Easy EGGS BENEDICT CASSEROLE 6 English muffins 10-12 ounces Canadian bacon (2 packages, or use diced ham) 8 large eggs 2 cups reduced-fat milk (or whole milk) 1 teaspoon onion powder cooking spray 1/2 teaspoon paprika easy hollandaise sauce- (I just use package) How to make it -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cut muffins into 1/2-inch cubes. Set aside. Cut Canadian bacon into 1/2-inch squares. Set aside. Whisk the eggs well in a 2-quart bowl. Whisk in milk and onion powder. Spray a 9-by-13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking oil spray. Scatter half the Canadian bacon evenly in bottom of dish. Scatter muffin cubes on top of Canadian bacon. Top with the remaining Canadian bacon, scattering it evenly over the bread. Pour egg mixture over the casserole. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours, to let bread absorb egg mixture. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove casserole from refrigerator and uncover it. Lightly sprinkle the paprika evenly over the top. Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove dish from the oven, remove foil, return dish to the oven and continue to bake, uncovered, until the eggs are set and the bacon on top begins to crisp, about 20 minutes more. Remove the casserole from oven and let it stand 5 minutes before serving. To serve, cut casserole into squares and place them on plates. Spoon about 2 tablespoons (or to taste) warm Hollandaise Sauce over each serving just before serving. Makes 10 servings Serve with pineapple casserole