Christmas time....is here.....happiness...and cheer...
Christmas has been great so far. At least, for me....but I've figured out I'm very much an optimist, so it's hard to ruin my spirits. I'm glad to be alive on Christmas, and I love wrapping presents for people, or spending money(only time of the year I spend much money at all...). This year, we had no tree. We had no house to live in. We slept in the shop on those board thingies in the back with mattresses on them. MTM is sharing on of the top bunk twins with me now, mostly because she felt lonely ALL the way on the bottom bunk. *rolls eyes and laughs* So I'm on the outside, and pretty squished every night. But now I know why I always sleep on my side. You need less room that way, see?
Spent Christmas Eve at my Grandmother's house. We always open up the grandparent gifts and exchange gifts as a whole on Christmas Eve, then spent Christmas morning with our individual families. This year, I got Beth in the drawing. I wanted to get her an L shirt SO bad. But that's half my spending money I've saved all year and mom said it wasn't a 'suitable gift' for a five year old. And she says Beth only likes L because I like L. X.X So I got her a bullfrog webkins, and her face lit up to open it. Ah, well. Maybe next year when she's had time to really do something to say "L is my favorite! I want all his merchandise!"
My name was drawn by one of my cousins, I think....I got a new sketchbook, some more mechanical pencils, and a Belle figurine. Mom asked why they were getting me Disney Princess figurines, and I said, "Because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite, and they now that. *smile*" It IS my favorite, and you are NEVER too old for a good ol' Disney film. I don't care who you are.
Would you care if Barack Obama watched Bambi? Hmmm? Well I don't. And he's probably seen it a million times with his kids. *nod nod*
From my mom's dad and his new wife, I got a gift card for thirty bucks. Which is way better, I have to admit, than the gifts from my mother's father's side for the last several years. Baby dolls and pink hair clips, and the same art set given four years in a row. X.X His new wife is cool. She knows gift cards make the heart grow fonder(and that you can't pick a suitable gift for a kid when you see her twice a year at best). And she hand-makes her cards, too. Lots of variety in those. She's cool.
From my grandma and her new husband(I can't call them all grandpa and grandma, now can I?), all of us kids got one big gift...the nintendo wii! : DDD We all opened it together and ALL OF THEM SCREAMED. I did not scream. I have a way of figuring out gifts, and I was prepared. I covered my ears. At first we had LITTLE trouble on where to set it up. Grampa is possessive of his big TV, but Gramma wanted us to set it up on that one because you can see it better than the tiny tv in the back room meant for kids games. In the end I let Gramma come in and tell him where we were setting up, because even if I want to, I can't tell the guy "I'm setting it up on the GOOD TV, man. Because I know you'll be playing it more than me anyway, and when I play I want to be able to see the freaking graphics!" In the end it was on the big TV, which I'm glad. Because there's more room out there, and it's where everyone else is, not closed off or anything. Makes it a group thing.(With twenty plus people!)
I set the whole thing up, too. But after a couple of seconds looking at the instructions I ditched the paperwork and just set it up by logic. It's basically like all the other game console setups, with a little difference. Sheesh. We spent the rest of the evening taking turns. I made my mii look like L. : D L is my favorite. I want all his merchandise! It was hilarious when I played Tennis against my mom. That little L can jump mighty high when he wants to. *nod nod* Everyone calls my character "the emo looking one". Which I'm getting used to. [/dork]
When we headed back home we were all giddy happy, to say the least. Lots of laughter and fun.
Gramma and Grampa stayed up until past three playing the new wii that's 'for us kids'.
Told ya so.
Mom was feeling very down this Christmas. I felt the depression accumulating as Christmas Eve wore on, but it only took a couple of little things to bring her to tears. I stayed up to help her, because I'm older this year and dad went right to bed after the party(it was past 11), and she didn't have anyone else to help her set things up. After a few moments of cleanup, and repeatedly telling me to "go to bed" because I was "still her baby girl and it's Christmas, for goodness sake!", she let me stay up to give her a hand. We cleared off a table in the front of the shop and I moved the little plastic tree with the blinky lights onto it, and we laid out the stockings. Every year we get an apple, an orange, and nuts in our stockings, without fail. Mom was upset because she didn't have nuts this year. I said it didn't matter, because we always give them all to my bro anyways. We don't like nuts. *rolls eyes* Then the fruit came up missing, and mom spazzed because they could have been left at Gramma's. She cried because all our traditions weren't pulling through this year, and this was ONE thing she wanted to keep going. The apple and the orange. Telling her it was 'just fruit' didn't seem to help, and I just held her and quietly told her that it didn't matter, we'd have extra fruit next year or something.
After awhile she felt better. And the fruit turned up on top of the fridge in a bag. Dad must have put it there, thinking to hide it until he pulled it out later.
After laying out stocking stuffers, we wrapped some presents, and I cheered her up with a couple in-jokes. She was sad that we didn't have much already, and that she couldn't get us the things we needed...that we were living in a shop, that we had nowhere to go, that we have to wash our laundry and shower at my aunt's house every other day, that the yarn shop is going out of business, that all the traditions we held were slipping away, that it didn't feel like Christmas...I did my best to cheer her up, and she mentioned that it was "all going to change now." I asked her what was going to change, and she mentioned that my older brother changed when he became an adult, and when I turn 18, she says, I'll change. I snuggled her and said that I would never stop loving her, or stop being proud of her for the way she raised me. I don't know how to tell her how proud I am of her and dad, and how to thank them for all they've sacrificed for my siblings and I...she told me I was awesome, and seemed to feel a little better. *phew*
We were taping the girls' presents, and it was a large plastic lapdesk, and I taped the wrapping paper to the actual plastic on one side, so it would be easier to wrap the second layer.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm taping it to the thingy."
"You can't tape it to the thingy!"
"Yes, I can! It makes it easier to wrap!"
"You can't tape it to the thingy! That's just wrong!"
"Mom, dad wraps most of our presents each year, right?"
"He'd like to think so..."
"Well, you said today he was a good wrapper. And he tapes it to the thingy."
"But you can't tape it to the thingy!"
"It'll come right off...!"
"But it's stuck to the thingy! It's hard to get off!"
"Then it'll just take them longer to unwrap! I'm taping it to the thingy!"
"YOU CAN'T TAPE IT TO THE THINGY JUST BECAUSE YOUR FATHER TAPES IT TO THE THINGY!"
And we laugh.
We talked back and forth about a couple of things, just having some one-on-one time in the quiet. I set the presents up under our little plastic tree-like thing, and mom insisted I couldn't turn around while she stuffed my stocking(like I couldn't wait a few hours to see...). We ended up not going to bed until five in the morning. XD
Christmas morning was very different this year. But we all gathered around the presents and opened them one-by-one. See, this year, mom suggested we do a 'Twelve Days Of Christmas', instead of one day of all the presents. On the first day, we open a present. On the second day, we open a present. For Twelve days we have Christmas! : DDD Which is technically thirteen if you count Christmas Eve. I like the idea, though that means I had to help mom organize how many days she had purchased. My present for the first day was....CARGO PANTS. W00t w00t for my first pair! They fit great and they're black. Mwhahaha. I've been saying for weeks that I want cargo pants. Because they looked so comfy, they have a million pockets(I'm not a purse sort of chica, so I can carry my stuff now without lugging a backpack around!....except I like lugging around the DeathNote bag Moony got me! : DDD) Also I needed new pants, because my only pair of jeans had a rip in it, and my brown jeans are lose, and my other pants are from two years ago or longer and they're too small. X.X So now I have decent pants. I also got a Deathnote T-shirt from MTM. ARIGATO GOZAIMASU! YAYNESS. And it got the ceremonious poke from Beth, who ALWAYS pokes my L shirt. Now she has two to poke.
I also got in my stocking a micron pen! My first ever! I've been wanting one of those to practice some decent inking with. :) Such bountiful gifts this year. ^.^
The munchkins got a set of chopsticks of their own. Now all five of us kids have a pair, which is hilarious. MTM got a rice cooker. XD And I got mom and dad a present this year, actually. I got dad a pair of jeans, because he only has the work pants his company gave him. Ugly brown stuff I won't even talk about...and I got mom a little glass angel. She used to have a bunch of glass things, but since she's had kids, I haven't seen any. Now that we're older, I thought it would be nice to let her have a little cabinet of pretty glass things. :) They both liked them.
And I got lots of fun gifts from my online friends! A Nicolith wally from Lily, avatars from KC, a Yukito banner from Poppy, and a Yukito/Erin drawing from GG! I think that's all of it....X.X THANK SO MUCHLY, LAVAS!
And now for the second day...hm...
Spent Christmas Eve at my Grandmother's house. We always open up the grandparent gifts and exchange gifts as a whole on Christmas Eve, then spent Christmas morning with our individual families. This year, I got Beth in the drawing. I wanted to get her an L shirt SO bad. But that's half my spending money I've saved all year and mom said it wasn't a 'suitable gift' for a five year old. And she says Beth only likes L because I like L. X.X So I got her a bullfrog webkins, and her face lit up to open it. Ah, well. Maybe next year when she's had time to really do something to say "L is my favorite! I want all his merchandise!"
My name was drawn by one of my cousins, I think....I got a new sketchbook, some more mechanical pencils, and a Belle figurine. Mom asked why they were getting me Disney Princess figurines, and I said, "Because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite, and they now that. *smile*" It IS my favorite, and you are NEVER too old for a good ol' Disney film. I don't care who you are.
Would you care if Barack Obama watched Bambi? Hmmm? Well I don't. And he's probably seen it a million times with his kids. *nod nod*
From my mom's dad and his new wife, I got a gift card for thirty bucks. Which is way better, I have to admit, than the gifts from my mother's father's side for the last several years. Baby dolls and pink hair clips, and the same art set given four years in a row. X.X His new wife is cool. She knows gift cards make the heart grow fonder(and that you can't pick a suitable gift for a kid when you see her twice a year at best). And she hand-makes her cards, too. Lots of variety in those. She's cool.
From my grandma and her new husband(I can't call them all grandpa and grandma, now can I?), all of us kids got one big gift...the nintendo wii! : DDD We all opened it together and ALL OF THEM SCREAMED. I did not scream. I have a way of figuring out gifts, and I was prepared. I covered my ears. At first we had LITTLE trouble on where to set it up. Grampa is possessive of his big TV, but Gramma wanted us to set it up on that one because you can see it better than the tiny tv in the back room meant for kids games. In the end I let Gramma come in and tell him where we were setting up, because even if I want to, I can't tell the guy "I'm setting it up on the GOOD TV, man. Because I know you'll be playing it more than me anyway, and when I play I want to be able to see the freaking graphics!" In the end it was on the big TV, which I'm glad. Because there's more room out there, and it's where everyone else is, not closed off or anything. Makes it a group thing.(With twenty plus people!)
I set the whole thing up, too. But after a couple of seconds looking at the instructions I ditched the paperwork and just set it up by logic. It's basically like all the other game console setups, with a little difference. Sheesh. We spent the rest of the evening taking turns. I made my mii look like L. : D L is my favorite. I want all his merchandise! It was hilarious when I played Tennis against my mom. That little L can jump mighty high when he wants to. *nod nod* Everyone calls my character "the emo looking one". Which I'm getting used to. [/dork]
When we headed back home we were all giddy happy, to say the least. Lots of laughter and fun.
Gramma and Grampa stayed up until past three playing the new wii that's 'for us kids'.
Told ya so.
Mom was feeling very down this Christmas. I felt the depression accumulating as Christmas Eve wore on, but it only took a couple of little things to bring her to tears. I stayed up to help her, because I'm older this year and dad went right to bed after the party(it was past 11), and she didn't have anyone else to help her set things up. After a few moments of cleanup, and repeatedly telling me to "go to bed" because I was "still her baby girl and it's Christmas, for goodness sake!", she let me stay up to give her a hand. We cleared off a table in the front of the shop and I moved the little plastic tree with the blinky lights onto it, and we laid out the stockings. Every year we get an apple, an orange, and nuts in our stockings, without fail. Mom was upset because she didn't have nuts this year. I said it didn't matter, because we always give them all to my bro anyways. We don't like nuts. *rolls eyes* Then the fruit came up missing, and mom spazzed because they could have been left at Gramma's. She cried because all our traditions weren't pulling through this year, and this was ONE thing she wanted to keep going. The apple and the orange. Telling her it was 'just fruit' didn't seem to help, and I just held her and quietly told her that it didn't matter, we'd have extra fruit next year or something.
After awhile she felt better. And the fruit turned up on top of the fridge in a bag. Dad must have put it there, thinking to hide it until he pulled it out later.
After laying out stocking stuffers, we wrapped some presents, and I cheered her up with a couple in-jokes. She was sad that we didn't have much already, and that she couldn't get us the things we needed...that we were living in a shop, that we had nowhere to go, that we have to wash our laundry and shower at my aunt's house every other day, that the yarn shop is going out of business, that all the traditions we held were slipping away, that it didn't feel like Christmas...I did my best to cheer her up, and she mentioned that it was "all going to change now." I asked her what was going to change, and she mentioned that my older brother changed when he became an adult, and when I turn 18, she says, I'll change. I snuggled her and said that I would never stop loving her, or stop being proud of her for the way she raised me. I don't know how to tell her how proud I am of her and dad, and how to thank them for all they've sacrificed for my siblings and I...she told me I was awesome, and seemed to feel a little better. *phew*
We were taping the girls' presents, and it was a large plastic lapdesk, and I taped the wrapping paper to the actual plastic on one side, so it would be easier to wrap the second layer.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm taping it to the thingy."
"You can't tape it to the thingy!"
"Yes, I can! It makes it easier to wrap!"
"You can't tape it to the thingy! That's just wrong!"
"Mom, dad wraps most of our presents each year, right?"
"He'd like to think so..."
"Well, you said today he was a good wrapper. And he tapes it to the thingy."
"But you can't tape it to the thingy!"
"It'll come right off...!"
"But it's stuck to the thingy! It's hard to get off!"
"Then it'll just take them longer to unwrap! I'm taping it to the thingy!"
"YOU CAN'T TAPE IT TO THE THINGY JUST BECAUSE YOUR FATHER TAPES IT TO THE THINGY!"
And we laugh.
We talked back and forth about a couple of things, just having some one-on-one time in the quiet. I set the presents up under our little plastic tree-like thing, and mom insisted I couldn't turn around while she stuffed my stocking(like I couldn't wait a few hours to see...). We ended up not going to bed until five in the morning. XD
Christmas morning was very different this year. But we all gathered around the presents and opened them one-by-one. See, this year, mom suggested we do a 'Twelve Days Of Christmas', instead of one day of all the presents. On the first day, we open a present. On the second day, we open a present. For Twelve days we have Christmas! : DDD Which is technically thirteen if you count Christmas Eve. I like the idea, though that means I had to help mom organize how many days she had purchased. My present for the first day was....CARGO PANTS. W00t w00t for my first pair! They fit great and they're black. Mwhahaha. I've been saying for weeks that I want cargo pants. Because they looked so comfy, they have a million pockets(I'm not a purse sort of chica, so I can carry my stuff now without lugging a backpack around!....except I like lugging around the DeathNote bag Moony got me! : DDD) Also I needed new pants, because my only pair of jeans had a rip in it, and my brown jeans are lose, and my other pants are from two years ago or longer and they're too small. X.X So now I have decent pants. I also got a Deathnote T-shirt from MTM. ARIGATO GOZAIMASU! YAYNESS. And it got the ceremonious poke from Beth, who ALWAYS pokes my L shirt. Now she has two to poke.
I also got in my stocking a micron pen! My first ever! I've been wanting one of those to practice some decent inking with. :) Such bountiful gifts this year. ^.^
The munchkins got a set of chopsticks of their own. Now all five of us kids have a pair, which is hilarious. MTM got a rice cooker. XD And I got mom and dad a present this year, actually. I got dad a pair of jeans, because he only has the work pants his company gave him. Ugly brown stuff I won't even talk about...and I got mom a little glass angel. She used to have a bunch of glass things, but since she's had kids, I haven't seen any. Now that we're older, I thought it would be nice to let her have a little cabinet of pretty glass things. :) They both liked them.
And I got lots of fun gifts from my online friends! A Nicolith wally from Lily, avatars from KC, a Yukito banner from Poppy, and a Yukito/Erin drawing from GG! I think that's all of it....X.X THANK SO MUCHLY, LAVAS!
And now for the second day...hm...