The TRUE meaning of Christmas?

I have been absent from the blog world for a while lately because of many things... but mainly because I haven't had anything important to say. Christmas put me in a funk- like I feel like it always does. I try to remind myself at the end of every Christmas that I need to spend the next one being more appreciative, more loving, more than what I really am. And I always end up bitter and crabby and a little frustrated.

Let me start off by saying that my family is wonderful, but also a little frustrating. Just a little. I may have blogged about this before, or told you about this before, but my dad and siblings and I (and my mom) are the only strong Christians in our family. If you asked anyone in my family if they were going to heaven when they die they would say Yes, but if you asked them why... they couldn't tell you. And that breaks my heart. But it shows up so much in their daily lives. In what they spend their time on, their money on, their priorities on. The first thing they say to me on Christmas morning is, "What did you get for Christmas?!" Now, I will be the first to admit, I love presents. I thinking gift giving is the love language that appeals to me the most, because gifts really show how much people care about you. The more heartfelt, homemade, personal, thoughtful the better. I don't need flashy bells and whistles. It just kind of throws Christmas into this commercial holiday when that's all people want to hear about. JESUS was born on Christmas day. He came into this world just so he could die for us. It was the best gift we have ever been given. I skim over this detail too a lot of the time. But this year, it was important for me to remember this fact.

Now- present wise, I didn't do too bad if you look at different sides of the gift giving spectrum. First, my dad has a tough time with gift giving. It was my mom's job. But he did really well. He got me some cute PJ's, a beautiful teacher outfit (though the pants were a tad big- but I AM excited that I am no longer a size 10!), a purple sweater and a Point of Grace CD collection. He did so well.

My grandmother wanted to get me teacher supplies for Christmas. :) Awww. She got me an electric pencil sharpener, a tape dispenser, pencils (the yellow kind), and highlighters. lol My dad and I just die laughing, but she was so sweet in thinking about me like that. All of that really will come in handy, and I will think of her every time I sharpen a pencil and get a piece of tape.

My aunt... well, she has the best of intentions but they just fall short. She fills my stocking now that my mom is gone, but she stinks at it. No chocolate. :( Fuzzy socks... which I don't ever wear, but yet always get. Soap... yes, bars of soap. Why? Do I stink? And the soap doesn't even smell good. *sigh* and then gifts- I get "matching" gifts with my cousin. Why?!?!?!?!?!?! Are we still 5? It doesn't matter. And the matching gifts aren't even cute. Yuck. I want people to surprise me, but from now I am making a list... you can follow the list, or just donate the money you would be spending on me to charity.

My brother and sister did great. I got a double boiler (for melting chocolate) from my brother and his wife, and an Astros jersey for my sister! The latter was a HUGE surprise... I didn't think I'd ever get one, but I've always wanted one. And whose Jersey is it??

Yes, the gorgeous Hunter Pence. :) My sister did AMAZING this year. But then again, she always does.
Even my dad's girlfriend did well- a 50$ gift card to Kelly's "heaven on earth". Barnes. Sigh. Thank you!! Someone finally listened to me. Oh, and did I mention I am now a MEMBER of B&N? Yes!

Today my dad and I went and got me a new size in pants and then exchanged my phone for a new one. I will miss my old little mini brick, but now I have a purple phone. It's true! But what is even more amazing is that I have found the most AMAZING website for ringtones. I will share it with you- but you will hate me because you will be addicted now. http://www.pisamba.com

You can download your own songs from your computer, edit them to the part you want, and then send them to your phone. Ooo! I know. It's exciting!

We went to Dallas this weekend. I got to hold my sweet babies. I got lots of sweet baby smiles. I felt torn in two the whole time. Part of me was in Dallas but a bigger part wanted to be here so that I could see Val. She hasn't returned my texts, voicemails or fbook messages, but if she is reading- I am so sorry. I have missed you and I love you and it was not fair to you that I didn't tell you what my weekend plans were or that I didn't call sooner. Please forgive me. :(

Today was good. My sister and brother in law and nieces came over to have dinner and Christmas. Avery is 6 and already reads AMAZINGLY well. She may have enough attitude to keep up my middle schoolers, but she is so funny and sweet (when she wants to be). Ashley is a mess and a half. She's been lieing a lot- like, a lot. And she needs a few good spankings. But I love her. How can you not? Riley, my dog, threw up 3 times today. I'm not really sure what is wrong. Just an upset tummy, I hope. He's been super cuddly and in my lap a lot today, which I guess means he really is a sick puppy.

I'm going back to CS on Thursday. I will be meeting my new teacher on Friday for a few hours to talk about Monday and this semester. I think this will make me feel a lot better about everything. And with my new EZ Grader, I now feel ready to face the world. Well, not really, but I really do love that EZ Grader. :) I set up a teacher blog too, so I will be double blogging from now on, I guess. The address is: msmccreery.blogpot.com

Go check me out. :)

Well, I am off to bed for the night. I love you all! Thank you for keeping up with my life. You are all so wonderful and incredibly important to me.

-KelBel

PS: Does anyone know someone who may want to take some pics of me that I can send off as graduation pics? I can't pay a lot (or any really... if we're being honest), but I would love for someone to help me with pics. Even if you take them with my camera. :)