Christmas is officially over at my house. It ended when Lils and I took down the tree today and shoved it out the front door. It will look lovely in the New Year's Eve conflagration on Saturday.
For all my grumpiness around the holidays, I actually did quite well this year.
I managed to Christmas shop without breaking the bank. I've got a marketable skill as a massage therapist and am convinced that a good massage is all anyone really wants for Christmas. I hit up a couple of local business owners and bartered gift certificates to gift shops, boutiques, and even a hair salon. I even gave some massage gc's directly to some people who I know would use them. There's a good gift at little cost to me. We also gave out cookies and cranberry chutney to folks. I even baked some gluten free cookies for those people in our life that eat that way.
So, as the gift giving tends to be the most stressful part of the holidays for me, I am happy to report that it went quite well this year! Kiddo's best gift from us was a handmade doll changing table. For $10 at the thrift store, we got this:
I love that she is still at that age where the biggest gift she asks for can be got for very little. We were pretty proud of ourselves for making it, too.
I feel like I made out well this year, stressed way less than usual, and didn't go broke trying to make things just right for everyone.
For now, I will look to 2012 with great anticipation. We bought our airfare to Europe as a gift to ourselves this year.
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