Holiday Gifts

High on my list of the things I enjoy about Christmas is all the pretty lights which brighten up our cold dark evenings.  Paul and I like to drive around and see how the surrounding neighborhood is decorated.  One house stands out; its light blink on and off in time to music which is played through big speakers.  You can't see that in these photos, but you do see the big inflatable M&m figures and the giant Santa and his dog, which are pretty cool. 

Everywhere we see neat candy cane lights.  How did we miss seeing them in the store?  We want some!  Well, there's always next year.  We have fun looking at all the decorations, and I'm happy that we give ourselves the gift of this time together.  

Today I went downtown to see my old Library of Congress colleagues, Betsy and Helena, for lunch.  It was so great to see them, and I'm glad I gave myself this present of time with friends during the holidays. 

Later, Paul and I went to Annapolis Mall to meet with an Apple trainer to get some answers to specific questions we had about iPhoto.  Going to the mall four days before Christmas means crowds and fighting for parking, but we made it happen.  I have another few months on my "One to One" contract with Apple for training, and I felt really glad that I allowed myself to utilize it today.   

While we were in the mall we stopped at Brookstone, where Paul spent a good half hour trying out every one of the massage chairs.  The other day I decided that I would try not rushing him, not suggesting that he move on to another activity, for at least the next few days before Christmas.  It's been hard since as the adult I'm wanting to move on, speed it up, get going.  But I've noticed that I miss all the details that Paul sees as he takes his time to look and look.  (It was Paul who saw that the lights on the house shown above were synchronized to the music.  I didn't pick up on it until he mentioned it.)  So instead of rushing him at Brookstone, I chilled out and watched him enjoy...no, luxuriate.. in the massage chairs.  It was such fun to see him having such fun.  I was glad I could give us both that gift of time and calmness.

And thinking of true gifts of the holiday, I found three boxes of Claritin in the cupboard this morning when I went to take my allergy pill.  My sweet husband, knowing how much I hate buying Claritin in this modern age of showing your i.d. and signing that you are not going to use the drug in a meth lab, had made stops at the drug store over several days (because you can only buy a small box each day) and bought me several boxes, giving me another gift that money can't buy.