Hectic Holidaze

Well, the frenzy continues.

The cookie baking was fun. My friend Judy from high school came with her 2 kids, sister and mother. We did a lot of catching up and also made 3 batches of cookies (sugar cookies, gingerbread cutouts and buckeye balls). It's a paltry amount by my father's standards…but a much more relaxed atmosphere than when my Dad and I get together to bake Christmas cookies (sorry Dad, but it's true!). It was good to see Judy again - I hadn't seen her since last Christmas when we got together to bake! There were a few e-mails back and forth over the year, but I have not been good at keeping in touch (with anyone, really) in 2006. That needs to change.

Sunday I got up early and went to mass with Mom (and family). Afterwards, we were looking at the giving tree (or whatever they call that - where you pick a name off of the tree and bring in a gift for a needy child/adult/social service organization) and noticed that there were an awful lot of names still on the tree. And that was the last day to bring in the gifts…So, Mom and I decided we would get generous and picked about 7 or 8 of the tags off the tree, with a plan to shop and bring the gifts back to the church before the 5:30pm mass let out.

I was lucky enough to get a nap in on Sunday, which is a rarity. We got home from church at about 8am, which is earlier than I usually can drag myself out of bed. So, a nap was welcome. After getting up and grabbing a quick little lunch, Mom and I decorated the gingerbread cookies. They came out cute. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera with me to her house, so I don't have any pictures.

After that we went on a shopping spree, with some $$ kicked in by my stepfather and stepbrother for the giving tree presents. We picked up quite a few things and then packaged them up out in the parking lot. It got pretty cold out there after the sun went down, and I had left my jacket in my car, because I hadn't needed it earlier. So, instead of running across the parking lot to my car to get my coat, I shivered at the open back of mother's Jeep and taped tags onto the individual gifts. (Mom was running back to the church to drop them off, and I was heading home directly from there.) I wonder if that had anything to do with this cold I seem to be getting.

While Mom and I were sorting and packaging the items, a car pulled up behind us with 2 young women in it. The driver caught our attention and told us she and her sister were away from their home in Modesto and her sister is a sugar diabetic (her words) and didn't bring any food with her, and they had no money. I was torn. On the one hand, my charitable self wants to offer them some food. On the other hand, my cynical side thinks it sounds like a scam, and that if her sister is a diabetic, she should always be prepared (and don't they have a debit card or a checkbook?). So, I wimped out and let my mother handle it. She told them to turn around and go back into Target (which was directly behind us) because they are known to help people out in that type of situation (I hadn't been aware of that, if it's true, but it never hurts to ask them). Then the car drives away and leaves the shopping center completely, confirming my cynical view of their speil as a scam. I hate that people do that. I would prefer to be surprised by people's sincerity…

Now, back to wrapping and writing (Christmas cards, that is).