The Twelve Gifts of Christmas...

In my ongoing quest to celebrate Christmas for the whole twelve-day season, I decided to think of twelves gifts that my husband has shared with me that makes my life better, emotionally, spiritually and physically.  Then I posted them on Facebook as a way of counting through the season of Christmastide, day by day.  They are shared in love, with a little irony and lightheartedness thrown in for good measure.

Here they are, all in one place.

12/25: On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, cleaning out the pantry and the refrigerator... and not alphabetizing my spices.

12/26: On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, coming home from work while it was still light outside (i.e. before 4:30pm).

12/27: On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me the willingness to eat leftovers whenever I don't feel like cooking something new.

12/28: On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a wonderful second family, where I call myself the out-law, but always feel loved by them all, and am regularly called for helpful cooking and computer software tips.

12/29: On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me the chance to live in nine states and one foreign country I would probably not have chosen for myself (those being Illinois, North Dakota, New Jersey, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington - and Germany).

12/30: On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me support of my calling and career.  (His mom always told him he'd meet a nice girl at church... she just didn't say she'd be the minister.)

12/31: On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a vehicle with four wheel drive... and the weather to go along with it. 

1/1: On the eighth day of Christmas,  my true love gave to me computer smarts, teaching me to think through most problems on my own.  A lot can be solved by setting a restore point, powering down, unplugging, sitting for 20 minutes, and starting again from scratch.  Some of those same strategies can also be used in life.

1/2: On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me sticking a load of laundry in the washer before I got up, so that I could get it dried and folded before I left the house for other activities.

1/3: On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me encouragement to get healthier.  This includes his willingness to eat more veggies, so I'm not cooking two different meals every night.  This year we welcomed asparagus, Brussels sprouts, radishes, butternut & acorn squash, sugar snap peas and celery to our vegetable options.  A really good quality balsamic vinegar is also a great dinner accessory... So are bacon bits...

1/4: On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a room in our current house that I don't ALWAYS have to keep up to his standard of orderliness - as long as I close the door. I call it the craft room... he calls it something a little different.  If you're looking for fabric, yarn, thread, scissors, glue sticks, beads, crochet hooks, knitting needles, elastic, hooks and eyes, snaps, straight pins, safety pins, sewing needles, patterns of all kinds, stamping supplies, wreath making supplies, ribbon, cotton batting, iron and ironing board, games or assorted fiction, I'm your gal.

1/5: On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me his love, his trust and his appreciation... priceless!  Do we disagree sometimes?  Well, of course we do.  But we not only accept each other's idiosyncrasies, and put up with each other's crazy schedules, plans, and obligations, but we have actually blossomed through it all.  Isn't that what a good marriage is all about?  God is so good!


I am truly blessed!

Peace, Deb