The Eve of Christmas Eve

Carlton and I both worked on December 23rd.  Actually, I worked all day like any other normal day at the shop. Carlton was at his office until about 12:30, at which time he drove himself on home to take a long winter's nap with the pup for the rest of the afternoon.  :)  But the time spent up until 12:30 at his office was just critical office work time, I might add: the exchanging of gifts, lunch, desserts, more gifts, and blissful Christmas spirit had to be crammed into that tiny time frame of 8:30-12:30... and what a job that was!  He did come home with some glorious and very gracious gifts (including a great duffel-style insulated cooler, Omaha Steaks, some gigantic summer sausages, gift cards, candies, and more), so I can't really complain too much about the work he did that morning.  :)
After I got home at 6:00-ish, we had some dinner and wrapped the last few gifts that were to be packed up and driven to Cartersville the next morning.  After the wrapping was finished, Carlton and I went ahead and picked one gift to open that night, for our very own first Christmas in our very own first home.  Carlton's choice was pretty much a given, since it was so big it only fit into the MINI because the back seats were down and it definitely wouldn't even come close to fitting into the Nissan (which was what we had planned to drive to Cartersville).  I had known for a couple weeks what gift I wanted to open first, but waited patiently for Carlton to open his gift first.

He had tried for weeks to figure out what I'd gotten him, failing time and time again to guess correctly.  Once the paper came off, he was so surprised that he had never guessed what was inside the giant box: a new high-def home theater system!

Next it was my turn.  I shook my box, listened really well, shook it some more, and ripped the paper open.

More paper!

Finally, I got all the paper off and discovered 10 tiny black boxes.  Tiny boxes are always a good thing!  Inside the boxes were 5 pairs of earrings and 5 necklaces, making 5 matching sets of semi-precious stone/sterling silver jewelry for me to wear with just about any unsuspecting outfit! 

Way to go, Carlton!  I was very impressed and surprised.  Your bases are now officially covered.  (Actually, Carlton's theory was to cover his bases this year on the basic "color wheel" so that from now on he can select "specialty" pieces.  Who can argue with an entire collection of necklaces and earrings, or his theory?  Not this happy wife!)

After opening our gifts, Carlton and I showered, packed our clothes for the long weekend, and loaded up all the gifts into the car for the long haul up to Cartersville!  We got to bed at about midnight, set the alarm for 6:30, and just hoped and prayed that our little eyes could pop open for the holiday drive.