Day 172: Christmas a Little Early

We had our first Christmas of the year last weekend.

It’s a little early I know, but Grant’s brother’s family is going to Hawaii over the holidays, so we decided to get together when we could.

I had to laugh when, dutifully sticking with the idea of giving experiences instead of  “stuff”, we gave them a gift certificate for a nearby restaurant on Commercial Drive, and they gave us a gift certificate (in the same amount no less) also for a restaurant  on Commercial Drive.

Too bad it wasn’t the same one – we could’ve gone together.  At least we were all thinking along the same lines!

The next day, we went snowshoeing with Grant’s mum which felt quite Christmasy what with all the fresh snow, and I was inspired to finish some Christmas crafting (with recycled materials of course).  At the risk of revealing my designs to my family, I’m just going to say that they are tree ornaments made out of pop cans (but not in a tacky way), and I promise to post picture soon.

So I’d say the holidays are definitely upon us, and I’m proud to say that I haven’t stepped inside a mall yet.  It’s not that we aren’t spending money; it’s more that we’re buying gift certificates for experiences that don’t involve the mall.

I also find this a little sad because I’m missing out on the Christmas tradition of being bombarded by Christmas carols while frantically shopping among throngs of people.  Ok, well I don’t miss the throngs of people, but I do think the mall atmosphere at this time of year is quite festive.  Maybe I’ll head downtown to listen to the music and people watch. . . .

By the way, the photo has nothing at all to do with anything except that, cuteness aside, it should stand as a reminder of how NOT to dress your child for Christmas.  That’s what Halloween is for; let’s not get our holidays mixed up.  Seriously, that poor kid will be scarred for life – he can’t even open his own presents.  And where do the legs go?