Gifts Abound

Merry, Merry Christmas to you and yours!! I hope today is everything you want it to be and that you are wrapped in the meaning of it most important to you!! Today I celebrate the birth of Christ and all of the love and goodness afforded me for it. I am thankful for unconditional love and the grace given to me to strengthen me to take on the gift of each day to its fullest.

I realize I don't necessarily demonstrate grace when I fall down. But, that's different!

Our day today started out just the way I hoped -- decently rested!! I so loved Christmas morning when the young Crewers were, well, younger. But, I won't even pretend I don't like that they're old enough to either (a) sleep until the family-negotiated 7 a.m. Christmas morning blitz time, or (b) stay in respective rooms until said time as instructed. And, leave mom to her zzzzz's ... It's just better for everyone.

Thank you, Pit Crew #2 and #3!!

BEST. GIFTS. EVER.

Indeed, they are the greatest gifts given to us. But, we all got some excellent goods, too! Among the stash, Aaron fed my running love on a handful of levels ...

Let's see ...

• a perpetual calendar (Peanuts, of course) themed, "Kiss Another Day Hello." Very appropriate to keep my mood cheery when I get up early to run! And, if I'm cranky, at least this calendar will make me smile!
• another dry-fit shirt to keep me super warm in the Winter and in a color where I cannot be missed!
• the Mile Markers book that I worked on reading months ago but couldn't finish before having to return it to the library. I knew from the beginning I'd want to own it, though, so it all worked out well!
• two more installments of The Puppy Pacer printed and in binders!! See?

He went for it, too ... new labels for all of them complete with puppy paws going up! Each binder also has a new cover page with the dates included in the volume plus  a picture from that time. Out. Standing!! He totally knocked it out of the park on this one as it came straight from his heart!!

Oh, and that dime in the picture above?

Yes, that's a chocolate dime to represent
one of my favorite finds for the Food Bank!

It wasn't all about running, though ... he pampered my favorite Rest Day treat, too, in a number of ways ...

You can guess the (of course!) Peanuts tin is full of popcorn. (I love these tins for trash cans!) You can also guess the popcorn inside is terrible, older than dirt, not of the most fresh selection, all of the above ... SO, there's a bag of kernels to pop as desired to compensate for the trash can kind! AND, how 'bout that puzzle?!?! Let's see ... a puzzle of popcorn in rainbow colors!!!! It's like it was made just.for.me!!

I hope the magic and joy of the season and day are with you right now!! Elly is guest writing tomorrow to let you know how her joy was something of questionable! She'll see you then!