Merry Christmas To ME!

It's getting close! Are you ready for Christmas?? Me, I'm about where I usually am at this point, which is ALMOST done. There are always last minute odds and ends to clear up.

I've been desperate for some new shoes. My current pair have more than 300 miles on them, and for me, that's a LOT. So when John came home from work on Friday and handed me $180 in gift cards to my favorite running store which he'd WON from work, I was over the MOON.

I got a new base layer shirt, new adrenalines, and a pair of adrenaline TRAIL shoes. I am so so excited to run in them!

Then yesterday, I got my bloggy secret santa present! It cam from Aimee who blogs at I Tri To Be Me. (She just completed her first Ironman at IMAZ - if you haven't read her report, you totally should - AMAZING!)

I busted into the box like a little kid!

oooo, a pretty box inside the box!

what's inside?

This is what I saw when I opened it up - LOVE!

Already, I was in love. I am not crafty, and I refused to pay outlandishly for a running related ornament, but OH did I WANT one - so before I even took it out of the box, I was so excited! BUT! Then I turned it around...

this made me cry. yes I am a sap. SO AWESOME!

I immediately hung it on the tree. I couldn't love it more. THANK YOU!

why yes, it IS right next to a Slayer ornament. (love my hubs.)

But THEN I remembered there was MORE in the box! Gotta check that out too!

her family is gorgeous! and GU!

Thank you so much Aimee! It couldn't have been more perfect! And thanks to Jill for organizing this gift exchange - so much FUN!

Lastly (because who knows when I will be able to post again - today is the kids' last day of school for winter break) I was tagged by The Unexpected Runner to share 7 random things about myself. Since I did this recently, and since it IS Christmas time, I'm going with a Christmas theme today.

1. My earliest Christmas memory is sitting crammed with all my cousins in my Grandmother's kitchen singing carols and waiting impatiently. After a bit we'd hear a loud "HO HO HO" and run into the living room to what seemed like a MOUNTAIN of presents! It was magical!

2. My Dad is Polish and my Great-Aunt (who married into the family) was from Japan originally. So early Christmas meals were kind of dyslexic - czarnina next to egg rolls, anyone? But I loved it.

3. I love Christmas music, but prefer it done traditionally. To me, it should be quiet and reflective more than upbeat and peppy (which gets annoying to me every year - please no more Mariah Carey. Ugh.)

4. I used to sing in church choir and midnight Mass was always my favorite. Although I haven't been in many years...

5. Since having kids, Christmas traditions have changed. Now, each Christmas eve, John and I drink lots of wine and wrap presents until the wee hours of the morning. So much that it doesn't even occur to me that I could get the wrapping done ahead of time.

6. When I was a teenager, instead of having a big meal on Christmas eve, my mom would make every delicious appetizer she could think of and we'd munch all evening as people would stop through. I miss this, and hope to resurrect it when my kids are older.

7. I haven't been to Christmas Mass in years. I prefer to spend Christmas morning in my pajamas, surrounded by my family, and just take in the joy on my kids' faces.

Merry Christmas to all of you!!