A Waa Hoo Christmas!

We enjoyed a wonderful, happy Christmas. The best part was that we were all together. I often take that for granted because the boys live so close. This time of year I have to remember other families are missing loved ones, especially those who are serving in the armed forces. I thank all those who are diligently working to keep us safe and free.

Every Christmas Eve we host an Open House. Family joins us. Then neighbors and friends pop in for a dram or two to celebrate. Local folks don't have to worry about driving - they just walk home after imbibing in too much holiday cheer.

Christmas morning, hang-overs or not, we go to watch the grandchildren rip into all their presents. The garage sale gods favored me yet again this year and fun presents were plentiful.

After observing the traditional ritual of "open it, open it" we retreated home with Sonny and Junior to indulge in a quiet gift exchange and long afternoon nap.

Now, I am not about to tell you that our Christmas is totally cheap frugal. We actually went to real stores and purchased a few real gifts. Charles asked for a boot dryer which we gave him in advance. The thing looks really stupid but let me tell you Charles says it works terrific. With all the snow we have had he said it's a marvelous feeling to go off to work in the morning with dry feet. Sometimes you have to pay full price but getting a quality product that is used frequently is worth the cost.

There is nothing like being appreciated for my freebie acquiring talents. Every time Sonny opened a stocking stuffer/gift that was questionable he'd say "I hope you got this cheap". I'd answer "I got it better than cheap". With that he'd give a loud "Waa Hoo" and a big thumbs up. He did it so many times I was just bustin' with frugal pride.

I wish to thank Walgreens, Menards, Freecycle and Totallyfreecrap.com for making my "Waa Hoo" Christmas possible.

Oh, and about the picture. Charles got the kids sleds and hung them on the Christmas tree. I guess Santa had a dram too many at Grandma & Grandpa's Open House! "Waa Hoo!"