Most Wonderful Auntie Amy

So the Cathys graced our presence this evening...too much fun. And yes I am blogging from my phone. Ah this crazy digital world my cousins keep dragging me into!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The Icing on the Holiday

I LOVE Christmas cards!!!

I send out almost over 100 every year just to see who will send one back and hope to find out more about what's going on in everyone's lives from the past year. (No biggee if you get one from me and don't send one back...you're not blacklisted for life=) I spend way too much money on development and postage, and I stress way too much over what pictures will be featured on my card...seriously, I start thinking "Christmas card picture" starting in October! But it doesn't matter because I love getting and sending mail. It's like a remnant of years past when things weren't so electronic or digital and more personal. It just takes a little more time, effort, and care to send a letter. So I treasure every one I recieve, and the piece of art I create with them in my foyer will be the last of Christmas to be removed. (I leave them up until I'm sure there are absolutely no more cards that might be coming in the mail. This includes possible New Years cards from late Christmas card senders, so you're looking at the second week in January before I reluctantly file them all away in my photo albums.)

Here's this year's masterpiece...

And since I'm a sucker for gimmicky things, and especially anything in which you keep score, here's how I netted out on my Christmas Card score. Thanks to my cousin April for getting me going on this=) :

(Points you can earn at end of line in black...points I earned in blue.)

Gain Points by receiving cards from:

dentist, hairdresser, mailman, etc +0.5 each (+2.5) This includes all the random staff from our church that send out the mass churchwide Christmas cards.

your own mother- +0.5

another relative- +1 (+14)

friend via email- +0.5

your boss - +1

friend you see at least once a week- +1 (+6)

above with reference to an inside joke- +3

long distance friend, devoid of any message- +2

above with personal message of at least 3 lines- +5 (+5)

anyone who includes a handwritten personal note of more than 5 sentences- +5 (+15)

long lost friend who hasn't been heard from in 20 years- +10

Lose Points when:

card and envelope are same piece of paper- -1

signature only imprinted- -2 (-44) Let's face it, it's just too time consuming to personally sign ALL the cards...even I cut corners by photocopying our signatures on the letter.

photo is of helpless pet in a holiday costume- -3

your name is misspelled- -4

card plays annoying music- -4

highly religeous card celebrates faith other than your own- -5

same card they sent last year- -6

return address label was provided by charity to which sender may not have contributed- -7 (-14) Confession-I used these on mine this year, but we actually did contribute, so no worries if you got our card=)

family newsletter contains words such as gallblader, spleen, or gout- -8 (-15) Parital thanks to April for mention of "ruptured Achille's tendon."

family newsletter is from ex who is (not so) subtly gloating over his recent wedding or cushy new job- -10

long lost friend who hasn't been heard from in 20 years asks for money or a place to live- -20

Bonus Points:

gilded envelope- +0.5 (+2.5) Thank you Merr!

handwritted return address- +1 (+18) Ok, I admit this is a guesstimate because I only really kept track of the last half I received.

card in which all family members signed their names- +2 (+10)

newsletter or family photo in card- +2 (+52)

card with moving parts- +3 (+3)

extremely clever handmade card- +4 (+4) Mad props to my sis, LA!

oversize card requiring extra postage- +5

card sent from foreign country- +6

newsletter with humor at progeny's expense- +8

card with check, cash, or gift certificate- +20 (+80) And this is what happens when so many family members live out of town=)

Final Score: 139 points! I love you all!

Day 7...the Finale=)

(Savannah riding her new firetruck.)

Well, a whole week of Christmas! How many people get to say they truly celebrate Christmas for a full week? I love it, I can't wait for it to get here, and I truly feel almost depressed when it's gone.

(Cousin Ansleigh giving her a ride.)

Day 7 (Friday) was so much fun. It's neat to watch Savannah interact with her cousins. I love them all, and I know all Christmases to come will be so much fun as they grow up. I am truly blessed. Here's a few pics from the first half of the day...

(Not too excited about Aunt Nessa giving her her first haircut.)

(Playing around with Cousin Drew.)

(Getting some love from Ansleigh.)

The Durhams-Ansleigh, Gary, Natalie, Patti, Drew, Vanessa, Savannah, Joey, & Jennifer

(We can be a little crazy too=)

The last half of the day was spent visiting at my Dot-Dot's house hoping to catch my cousins, Jeb and Grant, and see Uncle Kenny who had all come in from TX. I missed the cousins, but it was good to see Uncle Kenny, and of course, Bounds family tradition, we went to see a movie that evening. Marley and Me was cute, but I much prefer the over-dramatized action films of past Christmases...the years the Lord of Rings movies came out were my favorite! (Even though Joey had to suffer slow, painful torture watching them all with me for three years in a row=) How did I marry someone that has no appreciation for fantasy?)
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Anyhow, the 2008 Christmas has come and gone, and I'm glad you've joined me for the ride...or at least I hope someone out there joined me....Anyway, I love you all! Happy New Year! (soon)

Christmas Day! Day 6=)

So Christmas Day has come and gone, and it was SO MUCH FUN! Good food, good company, and hanging with family, that's all I need to make Christmas a success. Savannah has been awesome down here in Macon, and the rest and relaxation has been much needed. Although, I pray Patti's scale is wrong her bathroom because there is NO WAY I gained 11 lbs in one day!!! (Please no!) Enjoy the pics, and I pray you all had a very Merry Christmas as well!

Enjoying her new rocking chair while opening stocking stuffers....

Loving her new baby doll....

Figuring out her new firetruck that Santa brought her....

Me hugging my new, incredible North Face coat...you all know I'm a sucker for something soft and furry, right?

Joey ready for his Appalachian Trail hike in April...

Savannah showing off her Granddaddy's gift...so humble...

Loving to twirl in the office chair...mad props to Aunt Lah for the cutest outfit=)

Another famous expression of wonder caught on film=) Ohhh....

Christmas Eve...Day 5!

(Savannah lovin' her Macon Granddaddy in her cool new Puma jumpsuit from Auntie Em=)

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So Christmas this year belongs to Joey's parents in Macon. As in-laws go, I couldn't ask for any better. I love coming down and enjoying Patti's always-delicious meals and shooting the breeze as we get a chance to sit back and relax. It is different to celebrate with only four people (and Savannah of course) when I'm use to a full house on my side of the family, but if I've learned anything from getting to know my ever-extending family, it's that change is a good and welcome thing, and every new thing has it's plus side=)

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With that said, I'm going to head back to the couch to continue watching James Bond in Die Another Day, but you stay and enjoy the video below. It's taken me three days to capture Savannah doing this on video, and I hope it makes you smile every time you replay it...as it does us. Sleep tight! Hope Santa comes to see you tonight=)

(This is how she asks for more of anything to eat...it's just too hilarious!)

Sibling Christmas...Day 4!

So, I'm not exactly when the tradition began, but years ago we decided to help extend Christmas in our family just one more day, my family decided to exchange sibling presents on the 23rd of December, which meant we then got to open presents on Christmas Eve, and then again on Christmas Day--three days of celebration=)

Over the years, this tradition has changed to days to aid my immediate side of the family (brothers and sisters) getting together to celebrate together even if we couldn't all be together on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day due to any new in-law rotations=)

(Savannah enjoying her gift opening.)

So this year, LA & Tim were sadly absent, not able to come home from Orlando, FL this year, but everyone else was there as we enjoyed each other's company over good food, gingerbread cookie making, and Wii excitement. Of course, with Matthew hanging around, things always get interesting:

Matthew: "Who knows the difference between a man gingerbread man and a woman gingerbread man?"

Everyone Else: ??? What?


Matthew: "Let me show you...."



Gotta love my Matthew=)

And so it continues...Day 3!

Ok, so Monday night consisted of visiting my mom's parents, Meema & Papa George (as Savannah calls him=). They live nearby and invited us over to share in opening presents together, specifically to enjoy watching Savannah open her very first Christmas gift.

It wasn't at all as exciting as one would think it should be, but then again, that's my girl. Nothing really captures her attention for longer than two minutes unless it's a digital device...seriously. But, she did enjoy playing on her new horsey, and one day when she finally gets around to being interested in TV, she'll enjoy it even more, since it hooks up to the television to play interactive learning games....oh, the world we live in! Craziness!

The rest of the evening was spent visiting with Meema & George, enjoying their company, and of course, a game of Hand and Foot. I don't know if that's really the official name for this card game, but it's the only name our family has ever known it by. Anyone else ever heard of it? Anyways, it's always a great way to pass the time enjoying some friendly competion around the kitchen table and talking about this and that at the same time.

I think playing card games is just something our family has always done with Meema. I can remember back when the parents played Cannasta, then I learned how to play Solitaire, Gin Rummy, Skip Bo, Uno, and Phase 10, somwhere along the way. Many hours growing up were spent enjoying time around a good game of cards. I'm pretty sure every card game I know how to play I learned at her house with the exception of Spades, Hearts, etc.--that's my dad's personal favorite=)

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So the evening was warm and friendly and inviting, and I enjoyed every moment, but Savannah was in bed, and it was off to part two of our Day 3 Christmas celebration where we met my brother Matthew and wife Emily at Bailey's for about three hours of shooting pool. Too much fun! Switching up teams, guys against girls, couple against couple, brother and sister against the married-in brother and sister. Oh, we laughed so hard at how badly we played, then cheered so loudly when we did well. Oh, how I love to spend time with my family. Funny how it so often revolves around some sort of competition or game...guess that's just the way we like it=)