It's gone as fast as it came... but that's okay by me

I did the traditional family dinner this evening, with the usual exchanging of gifts. It's so much more fun now that there are young children in the family... my niece is 6 and her brothers are 4 and almost 2. As spoiled as they are, it is always a joy to see their faces light up when they open their favorite toy (it may not be their favorite, but they still react with such excitement). The youngest, as usual tod's do, was more interested in the wrapping paper and the boxes. Easily amused! I'm not a huge spender on the family, although I try to have a few gifts for everyone (one is usually something completely embarrasing, or nastalgic in a not so great way). And I have a knack of keeping ideas in mind that I may have overheard in the months prior... things my parents really liked, or something my sister saw but couldn't afford it at the time. Many laughs during the smaller celebration in my living quarters. We moved upstairs to my parents and couldn't keep the kids from finding which presents had their names on them. They couldn' have opened them any faster and were already on to the next one. The two older kids each received, from Gramma, a Nintendo DS. That's right! Did I mention they were a bit spoiled? And from "Santa" they got the Wii system! Quite the changes from my youth. A few of the gifts that I received (my Mother still asks me for a list at Christmas time, cuz I'm not real big into surprises, and don't usually like any clothes she buys me. So the list makes that so much easier on both of us. As I've been upgrading my bathroom over the last few months (it's taking awhile)... I have a new vanity, new lighting, new paint, and now I have new Martha Stewart towels and bathmat that go with the new look. And how could I forget the new toilet seat! The seat is clear and has seashells and fish and dolphins in it... you've seen them before. It's become a tropical paradise, considering the room is on the smaller side. Anyhoo, for my movie collection, I was pleased to have gotten "Whatever happened to baby Jane"... been looking for that for awhile. I also got a "Law and Order" box set, and a few other must haves... "Thelma and Louise" and "Pretty Woman"... they may be older, but they are a great addition to my collection. The best one I got was "Mamma Mia; The Movie". It's basically the broadway show to a tee! Meryl and Pierce and Christine and all of the characters do their own singing. I had a hard time with Pierce, but fortunately he didn't sing that much. And Amanda Seyfried, although too cute, can really sing!If you have any sense of imagination, humor and the slightest knowledge of ABBA, you will love this one. A definite thumbs up!

I'm hoping you all had a wonderful day, whether you were with family or friends, or alone at home, or even if you were stuck at work for a few hours. Can you believe it's almost 2009? WOW!