Wrapper, Not Rapper

I'm not sure why, but I really enjoy wrapping presents. My husband theorizes it's because I didn't grow up in a big family. He, on the other hand, grew up in a house of five kids. It was a lot of wrapping at Christmastime, especially as the second oldest. Anyhow, he was happy to let me take on all the wrapping duties since we moved in together, back in the 90's.

A little bit like when you get compliments on cooking a delicious meal, I enjoyed the oohs and ahs about how beautifully wrapped our gifts were. I learned to tie a beautiful bow on traditional squared box when I worked one holiday season at Godiva Chocolates. And for years I enjoyed picking up wrapping paper and gift trimmings at the after Christmas sales. It didn't even matter whether or not I needed any. A few years ago I quit doing that, and I'm finally working down my supply. Now that I have four nieces and three nephews all under the age of 15, there's lots to wrap!

For a while, things were slowing down with the growing popularity of gift cards and the use of gift bags, and the lack of young children around. This year all the rolls came out for the little ones. (I even finished two of them.) My husband insists the young kids get gift wrap, not bags. "The whole fun of it when your a kid," he says, "is tearing open the packages." So a wrapping I have been.

When I got to the last gift, which just happened to be for my (almost) three-year-old niece, Natalie, I was particularly proud of my wrapping job. I don't think I have ever had a box wrap with such perfection- the angles, the creases. It was so satisfying. It was just like the ones you see in photos and on TV. Lucky Natalie!

And lucky me, for being so blessed this holiday season with a loving and growing family. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate this joyous season!

The Year of Books

It's shaping up to be a very nerdy Christmas. My husband's mom and her side of the family use Amazon wish lists for holiday shopping. Everyone in the family generates a wish list of their own on Amazon, and then we all share access to our lists with one another. It takes the guesswork out of shopping, and generally everyone gets something they want. One of the cool things about this, is rather than try to figure out something "special" we all have random things we've been meaning to get ourselves, or have added to our wish lists throughout the year with the intention of purchasing them ourselves one day, when we get around to it.

Here's the one problem with it. I generally don't have much on my list. I find myself searching around for things to add. I feel blessed to have mostly everything I want and need in my life, with the exception of high priced items you plan to save up for, and would never ask someone to buy for you. In fact, this year I don't even have any of that on my wish list. So, like any good nerd, I end up with mostly just books on my list. I always have a running list of books in my Amazon cart for the day I'm ready to spend a little money, and I know I'll find the time to do some reading. This year, I just shifted some of them out of my cart and onto my wish list.

Boom! I got two of them already. This weekend, we celebrated an early Christmas together at my mother-in-law's house. It's funny. Family members sitting around the circle look at you like you're nuts. I guess that's more because of the kinds of books I had on my list. None of them were cookbooks or novels. They were all books related to my field and areas of study that interest me. My husband's grandma bought me one, and she even jokingly quipped, "It's the first time I bought a book as a gift and wasn't tempted to read it!" I acknowledged my nerdiness, and tried to give them a few sentences about the content. They seemed respectfully uninterested, but pleased that I enjoyed receiving both the books that came my way. I am so excited to have a week-plus off to dig into some of it. Both of them will help me in my planning for the course I will be teaching next semester.

Happy Holidays to me!