Well, I'll call the family Christmas party a success even if short-lived. Arrived at 1:10 pm, shook hands/hugged and then began conversing with my sister-in-law's son-in-law (strange, yes?) and we hit it off right away. My mom shows up early and leaves early - she doesn't want to drive in the dark and I don't blame her. But she called me off into a hallway and told me she wanted to give me my Christmas present early. She handed me a card. Strange, I thought, she usually gets me what I ask for, which in this case is a battery operated hedge trimmer so I don't have to go around with a pair of cutters spending a lot of time trimming plants that could be knocked out in a few minutes with the trimmer.
That's what I had asked her for. Instead, I opened up the envelope, read the note and looked at a check sitting in there. Not a small check, either. I was stunned. My mother giving out cash and a lot of it at Christmas? The thought has never even crossed my mind that she would do such a thing, it's simply not in her DNA. I looked at her with a curious look, I guess, because she simply stated she was "distributing her wealth". Lol.
Later on when presents were being handed out? Yup, there was my brand new hedge trimmer, battery operated (I have a large enough property that dragging an extension cord around all over the place would not have been too fun).
I think it odd, though: a family that can't seem to pull it together enough to spend more than a very small portion of one day together out of an entire year. I saw my middle brother for a couple of hours and that will be it for another 365 days. Well, I gave him and his son some gift cards that I thought they would appreciate - and they did and they gave me a game which I intend on trying out.
Regardless, weekend not over yet and still have 3 more full days left on vacation : )
Ummm, okay. I just realized that tenants are buying Christmas presents for others in the house. I had no idea, really. Meaning? I better go out and get something for everyone tomorrow.
Merry Christmas!
