Happy Boxing Day! (Unless you're a Welsh servant girl)

I hate to sound bah-humbugish, but I'm kinda glad Christmas is over. I always get nice stuff and I love the lights and the songs, but Vic & I always spend way tooo much money and then I stress about it for months afterward. We finally got in a position where all our credit cards were paid off and then stupid-head Christmas rolls around again! My goal is to have them all paid off again by the start of Spring. Other than the whole money thing, Christmas seems to have gone pretty well. We spent the weekend with Vic's mom opening presents and having two dinners (Sunday & Monday), the puppy & kitty we were babysitting went home Sunday (much to Shannon's relief!) and now our house is starting to get back to normal again. We have one more holiday trip planned ~ this weekend we are going to Canada celebrate with Vic's aunt. We had a great time the last time we were there ~ she's got lots of cows & chickens!

So I noticed today is Boxing Day and I realized that although I've heard of it all my life, I really didn't know much about it. So I looked it up! Just as I suspected, there are several different views on how Boxing Day got its name, most of them centering around boxes. The one I ran across most often was the belief that servants long ago had to work on Christmas day and the day after were allowed to "box" up the leftovers and take them home to their families. How very decent of the rich people. I also came across the very odd Welsh custom..."As in most of the rest of the UK and Ireland, the day after Christmas Day was always most significant in the day-to-day events of Wales. Some activities that took place on this day seem peculiarly Welsh, including that of "holly-beating" or "holming." In this, it was customary for young men and boys to slash the unprotected arms of female domestic servants with holly branches until they bled." We've come a long way, baby.

I had to put off my scrapbooking for the last couple of days in order to concentrate on gift wrapping and puppy babysitting, but I'm hoping to dive back into it again today or tomorrow. Also, I've been working on the same cross-stitch project since about September. I'm hoping to complete that before starting back to school next week. And I just finished "The 5th Horseman" by James Patterson this morning. I think it's the best book yet in his Women's Murder Club series. I'm hoping I can squeeze in another short book in the next week. I've really been enjoying this little break from school. I miss reading for pleasure. I used to start a new book about every 3 weeks or so and the one I just finished is the first book I've picked up since the start of September! Sometimes being scholastic sucks. Oh well. I think I'm going to go hit the treadmill for a few miles. I've watched a ton of movies while getting buff; usually in 30-45 minute blocks. I'm currently watching "Pride & Prejudice" with Colin Firth. He's just rebuffed Lizzie and pissed off her mom by not dancing with any of the Bennett girls at the big shindig. What will happen next?? (I've seen the movie several times and recently re-read the book, so I know what's going to happen ~ I was just trying to be cryptic. Did it work?)