Christmas rundown...

This Christmas I did not stress as much as I did in years past. Part of that had to do with me no longer handling the finances. That in itself is a long story. In short, had a very limited budget.

Christmas Eve -- of course at my job, there is no such thing as being off on Christmas Eve. I worked and worked a little late. My sister Lani put together a service activity for her kids and invited all of us to participate. They baked Friday afternoon, assembled fruit baskets and rehearsed songs to go caroling. They selected 10 families ranging from widows to needy families to go caroling and take their basket of goodies too. It turned out beautifully. I'm sure both sides were able to benefit from this little activity.

Due to Haloti working Christmas morning, we opened gifts around 11 pm. We usually begin with the Christmas story about the saviour's birth. The kids opened up their presents. This year, gifts were mainly items they 'needed' such as shoes and clothing. Their big gift -- a new and enhanced Wii. They have enough games to keep them busy for awhile.

As for our gifts, I purchased a Dallas Cowboys hoodie and t-shirt for Haloti at the Cowboys shop inside the airport when we went to Texas. He bought me a pair of Puma shoes and a new perfume (Obsession). I don't want to sound ungrateful because I'm really not. There are just a couple things I'm picky about: clothing, shoes and perfume. To be quite honest, I was excited that the shoes were small. That meant I could take them back and exchange for a different shoe. The style he selected was cute, but not much I could wear them with. Besides, I needed a new pair of Zumba workout shoes. The ones I currently have, I'm not too happy with. Now the perfume...my sisters all know, I am pretty simple and basic. When I have a favorite perfume, I pretty much stick with it and don't switch unless I absolutely love a different one. For the longest time, I wore 'Volupte' by Oscar de la Renta. Stopped using it when it was discontinued. As of recently, my new favorite is the original Juicy by Juicy Couture.

To make my long story short, I didn't know he went and returned my shoes. They will be sending the correct size to my home. So much for my plan. Guess I will just keep them. Like I said, they're not bad looking, I just wanted something a little more neutral. I'll take a picture of them and post when I get 'em. Yesterday I was able to exchange the gift set for my perfume. I am one happy girl now.

Even though this Christmas was a little low key than others, there is so much for me to be grateful for. Not only do I have a lot to be grateful for, this Christmas reminded me of what I can do on a daily basis and not just wait for the Christmas season to act out on.

My dear blogger friends, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. As we approach the New Year, may it bring about more good memories and an opportunity to serve and do better! Love you all!!! Thanks for your continued love and support!