Something a bit lighter -

We'll get back to closing out the recap from our trip to Germany shortly, but I had to post something lighter after the Dachau post below, which, by the way, I was touched by some of the comments, both left on the blog and sent to me privately.

So, anyone else get screwed by the Internet Elves this year? I ordered, in mid November, 6 gifts online for 5 different people/couples, guess what happened?

-Gift 1 and 2, something that was to go in the in-laws package to be mailed out... came in wrong, wrong size, wrong product, but boy did we get billed for the correct one.

-Gift for BFF, same type as the gift above, but again, not only did the company screw us once and twice, they screwed us thrice.

-You guessed it again, this was gift 4 from the same company, for my mom, yup, billed for a more expensive item, shipped crap.

-gift for SIL, billed a more expensive item, shipped some crappy item, different company this time though, so I felt a bit better

-gift for a person who works for me, broken when arrived, everyone else who reports to me had the right (and not broken) gift... cut my hand pulling it out of the box.

Either way, none of the gifts came in time, some are shipping late, some will go for next year's pile. I've never had this happen before, let alone for so many different gifts. In all cases we were billed for the item we wanted, the confirmation had the right description but the gifts all came in wrong, NICE!

So can anyone else top the Internet Elves Screw Up list? I hope not.

I leave you with "holiday" images from around the house and from the drive through Western Mass yesterday for a holiday get together with Mom -awesome mountain scenery. A quick lunch out together, stacking of wood, opening of gifts and a preview of the stocking she is making for Magpie (It's awesome mom and when it's done we'll get you eye surgery for next year's Christmas gift due to the block count on the mat! )

The Stars we purchased at the Christmas Markets in Germany, the selection was awesome, I need to find a US dealer though. One is full of awesome "cut outs" and silver glitter, the others are embroidered with metallic thread. The stockings, come on now, everyone's dog needs a stocking, and yes, there are toys in them.

Lastly, dinner tonight! I love having time off from work at home, gives me the chance to bake and cook things I haven't made in a while. This time, an awesome, from scratch, Lasagna recipe, even the cheese is a cheese sauce you make with all sorts of ingredients, no spaghetti sauce in there either, all made from crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and assorted odds and ends like garlic, spices, etc.

E nearly had a heart attack when I joked it wasn't for us but for a dinner get together coming up in a week or two, pretending I'd freeze it for later! HA!

Next up, the snowman cake, wait till you see that... ok, I'm first looking forward to it coming out right tonight!

We're having people over for Christmas and though it won't be the full house we really wanted when we volunteered to host the 07' Christmas gathering, we are grateful for those who are making it to the house.

Maybe in the next 6 years of our marriage we'll get the honors for real! And if not, well, c'est la vie, live does move on, we've been taught that lesson. Life is also what you choose to make of it, this year we're making the most of Christmas, that's for damn sure. It's the first time in 2 years I wanted to celebrate and E and I, we deserve it for all we've lost and for all we've had to work so hard to get back.

We will be honored and thrilled for the day Magpie joins us to pull presents from under the tree. As one of E's relatives said, it's time to make our own traditions, we look forward to many years of cookies being made together, leaving them for Santa with some milk or a shot or two of something, to reading Christmas stories and enjoying the holidays, together.