Hipployta's Lounge Spot: How I spent my Christmas Weekend

Okay I have made it VERY clear that I don't care much for the holidays....normally not a big thing in my house but even less important this year since the hubby is deployed [he deployed while I deployed so I haven't seen him in a LOONNGG time]. To me the holidays just mean days off.

Anywho so on December 24th I still hadn't purchased any gifts and my Parents were driving up from South Carolina to visit me. So that day I was to be devoted to finish my preparations for their visit and buying gifts for the my nieces and my best friend, Mainny, kids...

I won't go into the nightmare of shopping on Christmas Eve but let me just say I walked in the store at 1145 and went home around 1800 [that 6PM]

After I FINALLY leave the store I stop at my best friend's house and drop her kid's gifts off...I'll come back to them later

So eventually my Parent make it and I cook dinner and we all go to sleep....the next morning I wrap any of the presents that didn't make it to the gift wrapping counter before they closed and let me tell you that was an experience in itself...a very unenjoyable one

So all the gifts are loaded in the car and be go to brave the traffic on the Turnpike. Last year was pretty good so although I was being very negative about the traffic to my Parent, before getting on the turnpike, I was actually pretty hopeful. Well, hope won out in the end because traffic was great up until I got near Newark [exits 13, 13A]. Well it was pretty bad so I did the only thing a sensible driver would do...I cut through once of those openings the cops use into the trucker side of the turnpike.....LOL

Anyway we got there and my nieces weren't there yet so my father [in-law] Carlos and I went over to their Mom's place, my sister [in-law] Monique, to pick them up. I really like Monique so we hung out there for awhile talking while the girls attempted to get dressed. When she told me about how much food she had made and still had I immediately went into "Feed Me" mode.

Apparently she had told her relatives that dinner was at 7pm....no one showed so she put the girls to bed and went to sleep....later on she hears a pounding on the door and goes to see who it is. It's her family...the thing is it was TWO O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!!! They gave Monique some excuse about traffic in NY to which she responds they can come in but she isn't getting all that food back out.

So let's just say I made out like a bandit...ya'll better know I'm living off of her and my leftovers for quite awhile...no one in this house but me so there is no reason to cook...I usually sustain myself on cereal...

Anyway the girls, Carlos, and myself all head back to their apartment. The girls were going to open our presents [gifts were from the Hubby and myself together of course]. Unfortunately I was shopping as a form of retail therapy and some slight guilt. My husband and I missed both their birthdays due to deployments so I bought gifts for them to make up for that too.

Well this was the result...we only let them actually open one doll each [could you imagine the chaos otherwise??] and their Grandma [Mom in-law Myrna] will determine when they can open other ones after she sees how they handle the current ones

Due to the sheer number of gifts the girls recieved our gifts are staying at my Parents [in-laws] place

The rest of the day was all of us hanging out until Myrna left with her brother and the girls for the family house in the Poconos, which is where their Father lives [Brother in law].

Here are pictures of the rest of the day...as soon as I figure out how to incorporate videos I'll put the short video I made from that day up