On Christmas Eve, A Mixed Bag

I figure, it being Christmas Eve and all, today’s a good excuse to throw out a big bag of Random.

~Yesterday I took the boys to Sports Authority to get new gym shoes. Being Jewish and not crazy about “Christmas shoppers gone wild” in this, the silly season, I try to avoid retail stores as much as possible from Thanksgiving through New Year’s, so the fact that I took my kids out for shoes the day before Christmas Eve should tell you how badly they needed them. One of them was wearing a shoe that was completely separated from the sole on one side. I’d post a picture, but I’m a little embarrassed about that and would prefer that you just use your imagination. To our surprise, Sports Authority was not very busy. They each found a pair of gym shoes, and the older boy grabbed a pair of lacrosse shoes for the upcoming season. I had a coupon good for $25 off a $100 purchase, and the three pairs of shoes ended up costing about $90 after the discount. Not too bad! I had an extra coupon, which I gave to the lady in line behind us, and she was super-excited. I love doing that: it’s such a waste to throw away extra coupons when you can perform a random act of kindness and save someone else some money as well, don’t you think?

~The older boy had his first performance review last night at the restaurant, and was thrilled to hear from the manager that they think he’s doing a great job. I think it left him energized and ready to step up to the challenges they gave him for the upcoming year.

~My (and Julesie’s) mom (you may know her in the comments as “Grandma W”) had surgery on not one, but BOTH feet yesterday. The surgery turned out to be more extensive than they expected, but it went fine and she’s got about three months of recovery ahead. The good news is, once she’s up and around again, she shouldn’t be in constant intense pain, which is always a good thing! I’m headed down to Tennessee in a couple of weeks, sans Jim and the boys, to help her out a little bit.

~I received something very exciting at my front door yesterday: my boss sent me a box of Enstrom’s Almond Toffee for the holidays. I was beyond thrilled, because this stuff is–and I know I’m reaching back into the 20th Century for this term–THE BOMB. Her husband gets a box of it every year from his company and she brings it to the salon, and everyone goes crazy for it. I’ve said for the past three years that I was going to order some and just never did, and so this year she surprised me. I know it’s too late of a suggestion for your Christmas gift-giving, but seriously, if you want to give yourself a gift after the holidays, try this stuff. YUM.

~I still have a cold. It is driving me bonkers.

~David Goldman is on his way back to New Jersey from Brazil with his son, Sean. This makes me incredibly happy. I’ve followed this story for a while now and have been shocked and saddened by the constant delays brought on by the Brazilian courts in reuniting the two of them.

~Today, on Christmas Eve, we have no plans. It feels great. I might do some laundry. Then again, I might not.