A Merry Christmas, Indeed...

I hope everyone's holiday was the stuff of which dreams are made. I have to admit, I think this Christmas was the best one ever. It was our first one in the new house, so we stayed home and the family came to us. It was the first time I'd ever cooked for that many people (ten), and I'm happy to say it went off without a problem. Whew...

Usually we go to my in-laws for Christmas Day, but when I told DH that I'd really like to spend this one home, he (a bit reluctantly) gave in. My mother in law was gracious about losing her holiday this year, and so they all traveled up here. It was a full house, but I think a good time was had by all.

The Girl and the Boy were thrilled with what Santa gave them - the Girl especially, when she saw that Santa had brought her a Peanut doll. For those of you who might not know, Peanut is a Woozle - the creation of comedian Jeff Dunham. He's also a riot. Watch Jeff Dunham's Arguing With Myself either on Comedy Central, or get the DVD - trust me. You will laugh until you cry.

Well, the Girl watched it last summer and it's one of her favorite DVDs. She can quote it almost word for word, and she thinks Peanut is the funniest thing ever. So you can imagine the look on her face when she saw Santa managed to snag a Peanut doll (which are relatively hard to come by.)

Santa brought the Boy a Spider-Man big wheel. He doesn't quite get how to ride it, but it makes noises, the engine revs, and it has blinking lights - so he's thrilled. He also got a Tickle Me Elmo, Extreme - which he loves. The Girl had gotten a Chicken Dance Elmo from her uncle years ago, and the Boy recently adopted it and promptly broke the button on Elmo's foot that made him chicken dance, so the new Elmo is more than enough to take his mind off the other one. Whew.

As for me - well, my husband and I decided we weren't really doing much in the way of gifts. I tried to find him a NY Rangers jersey, which would have been his big gift. However, hockey jerseys seem to be in real short supply around here, because all I could find were youth sizes. Grr... But he seemed happy with the book on the history of the Rangers, The Bronx is Burning DVDs and the companion book, and the other things as well. He's so damn difficult to shop for and I put a lot of thought into his gifts this year. I wanted them to mean something. And I think they did.

Well, he also kept his word to keep it small. To a point. I'd asked for a new bathrobe (my old terry one bit the dust a few years back) and he found a great fleece one (ooohhh... it is soooooo cozy. I love it.) Since I collect penguins, he'd found me a wind-up penguin candy dispenser. You fill it, wind it up, and as it walks, it poops out candy. Gross, but funny. He also gave me the new Springsteen cd and the new Eagles cd - woo hoo.

But then....

He hands me a stuffed animal - a polar bear cub and penguin chick (like from the Coke commercial) and what else is the bear holding? A small box wrapped in gold paper.

So, I open it to find the most beautiful pair of Tanzanite stud earrings. They are absolutely gorgeous. He knows I absolutely adore Tanzanite - especially in the trillion cut. I prefer it over even diamond. If I had known it existed when we got engaged, my engagement ring would probably be Tanzanite. It's the most beautiful stone out there and growing increasingly rare as most of the deep, deep blue has already been mined and this is a one-source gemstone. And these earrings are stunning - a beautiful deep blue, trillion cut, set in white gold.... oh... to die for! And I was beyond surprised. Floored was more like it. I can't get over how beautiful these earrings are. And I wanted to kill him because we weren't doing anything huge!

So, it really was the all-around perfect Christmas. I hope everyone else's was just as magical...