Yesterday, Christmas Eve, my mama's birthday :)
Mum went to karate, Sophie went out to breakfast with her little posse, Grace and I got showered, dressed, and started doing chores and things. Mum did a lot of cooking and baking, and Sophie cleaned too. Then Mum and Sophie went to take naps, and when they were both awake and back in the kitchen, it became very clear that Sophie was mentally unbalanced and not coherent. It was amusing if you weren't the one trying to talk to her. Dad was home at about two and he actually helped with the preperations.

Matt arrived at 3, much to my happiness. We went in the dining room and gave each other our mutual presents. I had been nervous and confidant about my gifts for him. Which is a ridiculous combination, because they really just cancel each other out, but nope somehow I managed. The gifts: a new SD memory card for his phone (practical and needed), a new sweatshirt (sweet/cute), a new necklace (special) and cherry chapstick which I taped a post it onto it and wrote "I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It chapstick" (funny). The chapstick is because he very much enjoys Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl" and in the song she has a line about girls with cherry chapstick, and I also use it frequently. Good stuff. Anyway, I thought it would be funny to give him some and have it say that. He was wonderful with my gifts. I'll feels silly listing them, but he does seem to know me so well. He was thoughtful with what he picked and I would have been happy to just have him too.

He arrived about 3 p.m. so we had four and a half more hours until Aunt Lisa, Uncle John, Emmie, Jill and Grandmother arrived, coming straight from Mass. I think Emmie and Jill were really happy to not being going to midnight Mass. I know I would be.

We occupied ourselves with iTunes and playing Apples to Apples (WONDERFUL GAME!!). I went upstairs to put the clean sheets on my bed (I love clean sheets) and change into my skirt. Transforming into a butterfly. I have an issue with dresses and skirts. Anything other than jeans. I often feel very insecure and vulnerable. I also don't necessarily like my legs. Which is an unwarranted feeling, I think it's mostly because I don't tan very well and I dream of having a tan, even though I slather myself with SPF and do not want to come up with skin cancer. I went off the trail there. Whoops. Anyway, Tuesday night I was thinking about what I would wear Thursday and I started thinking that I wanted to wear a skirt. I wanted to be girly. And I didn't feel that I could dress up jeans Thursday night. So Wednesday out with Grandmother, I bought a black skirt and black leggings. and I loved it. I wore them with my black boots and I felt really good.

The Emerson's and Grandmother arrived, we had dinner, cleared it all up, then the adults grabbed tea and/or coffee and the presents began. Our family has a tradition. Someone (or someone's. Last night Sophie and Jill took turns reading) reads the book The Night Before Christmas, and every year, we have a hat with little pieces of paper with different words from pages of the book. You take one piece of paper for each present you have to open. I had seven presents, so I had seven words. Matt loved it. He was surprised he had presents and he loved how we opened them. And during the reading everyone listens and when they hear one of their words read from the book they get to open one of their presents. It is a lot of fun, even though I groaned about it when I heard that it was happening again this year. I enjoyed it.
Matt was picked up at 11 p.m.-ish and the family left soon after. Sophie and I went to wrap one present each and then go to sleep.

I set my alarm for 6:30 a.m. so I would have time to wake up and all before Grace came bounding into my room to force us all downstairs. I was awesome and already up. And it is very jarring to wake up to the chorus part of "Just Want You to Know" by the Backstreet Boys. I love that song, but since I had used that ringtone on my phone as my alarm (plus the vibrate and my ipod alarm) and had turned the volume all the way up, it was very startling and brutal.

We opened our stockings first when we had all congregated in the living room and that was good. I love the stockings. Then we opened the presents. I got things I'm happy about and everyone liked what I gave them *wipes hand across forehead*. Whew! Sophie, Grace and I all received our claddagh rings that Mum and I had the idea for together. I showed Grace and Sophie how to wear theirs and it was just so much fun.

There is more I could write and hopefully will, but it is not 10:06 a.m. and we are going to my Uncle David and Aunt Michele's house for a lunch dinner and presents. I must get ready, I am still in pjs and I want to take my time.
So goodbye for now! And Merry Christmas. Don't forget the reason Christmas exists.