Wrapping Up Christmas

Normally I spend a big chunk of late Christmas Eve wrapping presents. This is not fun, and I've been trying to fix things, with little success. Last year, I started early...but forgot to put notes on the presents. (And ended up getting duplicates on some stuff! Stupid, stupid, stupid...)
    This year, I smartened up. Got out the presents, plus wrapping paper, stickers, tape and scissors -- plopped them all down by the couch and started wrapping, in front of Husband, who was peacefully lounging. A movie was on...I casually said, "Can you help me?" And that sweet guy (and I) got nearly everything wrapped in one evening! Just a few (including his) to go.
     Thanks to Michaels' early sales (plus the dollar store), I'd stocked up on paper at a reasonable price. (The Simple Dollar uses a standard approach to wrapping presents I'm thinking about using for next year...don't miss the reader comments, too.) Husband loves having a 'station' with the paper, plus accessories, close at hand -- otherwise, he has trouble finding everything and stomps about, muttering.

     Since we didn't even get home from Panama until late Monday night, I've had no time to do much of anything. Got the wreath up on the front door, the mantel decorated, and Saturday night, we finally got a Christmas tree. (Note to self: consider doing this again -- the tree, along with anything Christmas-related, was 40% off at Lowe's this past weekend!) It will get decorated this afternoon, before one of my students arrives for her last piano lesson of 2010.
    Our part of Colorado is dry as a bone, and swept by warm blowsy winds. The mountains are being nailed with snow and ice; there's a wall of gray cloud hemming them in behind the Front Range. But we're getting none of that. Looks like another tan Christmas.

Stocking stuffers are on the checklist to finish up. I've been stashing samples all year, plus little goodies...can't say much yet, because certain nosy people (Note, Daughter #1!) read this blog now and then. But there are some standards that always appear, like a chocolate Santa. (Daughters snort at it, and rarely eat it...for fun, I sometimes recycle the previous year's Santa, to see if they'll notice!) I also always include a toothbrush, imported chocolate and cookies, and a can of black olives. (The latter is perfect for munching while reading the latest Christmas book.) An orange is always in the toe -- memories of growing up on a Michigan farm, where even in my childhood, oranges were an exotic thing. (Tangerines were even more desirable.)


One Frugal Girl's got some good stocking stuffer ideas here (plus easier ways to pay for them). Here's a better, more comprehensive list from the Frugal Yankee that will be of help, too.