Jenyfer Matthews

This picture makes me smile. I worked retail (way back) when I was in college and I used to volunteer to work all night on the 25th while the store was closed to clean up the tremendous mess from the last minute shopping just so I could avoid working the day after Christmas when there would be lines out the door with people coming in to return things.

Christmas morning came very early as the children got up to see just how many presents had appeared while they slept. Santa fills stockings and leaves one present per child in our home, the rest of the presents are from family. I wait til Christmas Eve to put everything out to minimize temptation – and because it makes more of an impact on Christmas morning that way!

The night vision goggles were a hit, as I suspected they would be. The snag? One pair works great, one pair does not. They waited all day to be able to test them out in the garden after dark. Imagine how disappointed my daughter was when she came upstairs within a few minutes to report that her pair didn’t function properly, but her brother’s were perfect. Not my fault, but I felt so badly for her. To make matters worse, I can’t even exchange them because they are currently out of stock where I ordered them. I keep messing with them, hoping that it is just a matter of flipping the switch just right. But I’ve also printed out a return label. Hope the relative that is coming to visit in a few days doesn’t mind packing them in his baggage for the return trip and popping them in the mail for us!

(After a quick consult, daughter opted to get the money back for the goggles and apply it to a cell phone of her very own – probably a present with more longevity anyway!)

The children also received half a dozen new DVDs between them. Problem? Our DVD player has decided that now is the right time to die. Oh, it still sort of works – it got us through movie-night on Christmas. But often it only thinks it is closed before it starts to ‘read’ the disk. You have to push it closed, which can’t be good for it. It wasn’t an expensive unit and it’s definitely been used with great regularity over the six or seven years we’ve had it, but it could have picked a better time to crap out. I’ll have to take it to see if can be repaired soon. Why bother? Because it’s on the inventory list we were compelled to complete when we moved to Egypt and whether it works or not, it has to leave with us when we do. Nice huh? It’s cheaper to buy electronics elsewhere and bring them in with you, but if you do that then you are stuck taking them out again even if they are broken just to prove you didn’t sell them while you were here. If you buy them internally, at least you can ditch them if they break (and if they are also made locally, they will) All I can say is that at least the malfunction isn’t something subtle and hard to describe!

All in all, it was a satisfying day. The children seemed genuinely pleased with their presents. They didn’t get too much and so didn’t get over stimulated, and they got a nice assortment of things that will amuse and entertain them in the short and long term. Phew!

I did finally get my cookies baked and distributed on Christmas Eve, though there are still more than I’d ideally like to have in the house. I can resist gingerbread but toffee bars? Just like crack. Now that Christmas is over, I’d also like to take down all the decorations and put the whole holiday behind me. I never really was able to get in the mood this year and twisting my ankle on the stairs and dropping a cake pan full of treats on the big toe of the opposite foot (big bruise) on Christmas Eve and Christmas day respectively didn’t help anything. Bah-humbug! The children are still enjoying the tree though so I suppose I will leave it up til New Year.

My mind has now turned to planning for my trip to Thailand. I. CANNOT. WAIT.

Be Sociable, Share!

•