Giving Trees

I am in a wrapping frenzy today. Our living and dining room are a mess with paper, gifts, tags and ribbon. (Java can't resist getting in the picture.) We adopted two senior citizens through church and two nine-year-olds through GM and of course, all the presents are due today and tomorrow. I finally have everything bought. Their needs are so simple: shoes, pants, shirts, socks, towels and a hygiene kit with toothpaste, shampoo, soap, etc. The kids also got a couple toys and the seniors got a panettone (cake) and some bedding. Wrapping is a big thing. They want everything individually wrapped.

We are going pretty low key on our own Christmas this year. My Mom and Dad are arriving on December 11 (yea!) and we're going to visit Iguassu Falls on the Brazil/Argentina border. That's our Christmas splurge this year. That's enough. We really don't need anything. And when you think about people that are going to be excited about getting our small gift basket with simple necessities like shampoo, that kind of puts it in perspective.

Hannah and I are solo today. Ro left the apartment at 1 a.m. to meet some GM guys. They are going fishing on the ocean today. Jackson is due home sometime today. He's been at the beach for the past three days on his "unofficial" senior trip. Both guys are going to be excited, full of stories and exhausted when they get back.