A little bit of Christms & ALOT of wrestling .........

This week we've managed to squeeze in a little bit of Christmas between a busy work week and a very busy wrestling week (2 all day tournaments ..... one away on Thursday and today the big Christmas tournament at home.)

Anyhow, look what Santa brought ..... matching Christmas tree crowns for Evan and which ever kitty would put up with wearing it !! (this time Shadow happened to be willing , sort of , to wear it.)

OH! and look what my mom gave me. That cross stitched sampler !! That was stitched by her Aunt Carmella in Italy in the late 1800's or early 1900's !!! It's looking pretty good for being at least 100 years old!!! Now I have to figure out what to do with it so it doesn't deteriorate any further --- should I have it framed? I'll have to find somebody who knows how to take care of antique textiles.

....And look at some of my fun Christmas presents!!! That hot pink comfy robe is from Evan; and Matt got me that great collection of bath/spa goodies from Bath and Body in the "Sweet pea" flavor !!! .... and hubby got me the other basket of bath/spa goodies in "Ginger therapy" flavor. If I had the time to actually take a leisurely bath, just think how relaxed I'd be and how delicious I'd smell!!! ..... and wouldn't it be lovely to soak in the tub and read those 3 Fresh Vintage issues, the Quiltmania magazine and browse through that Gooseberry Patch Farmhouse style booklet? (those were some fun little items that yours truly bought for yours truly for Christmas, along with that mug full of fabric complete with a pattern to make a quilt block.)

....And the chocolate and other goodies !!!!! YUM !!! Vanilla "Handcrafted Marshmallows" (I had planned to make these -- saw the recipe on somebody's blog somewhere, but of course I didn't get around to it -- but then I spotted these at Williams Sonoma -- isn't that a cute box?!?!) Hubby got me a big ol' jar of chocolate biscotti ( which I LOVE! ) ..... and a chocolate lobster ..... yes, you read that correctly .... a solid chocolate lobster ..... I'm not sure where he found this or why somebody thought solid chocolate should be in the shape of a lobster ..... but anyhow, there it is (... and it's a good thing that we decided to get a new treadmill as our big family gift this year ..... it better get here sooner rather than later!!!) ..... there's more chocolate (Dove , yum !! chocolate) from my sister, along with those "paper white" bulbs in that neat glass container!!! (I LOVE paper whites -- especially when I'm craving spring flowers in January!)

.....And, wrestling ..... LOTS of wrestling this week. In today's tournament Matt got 4th place in his weight class (there he is on the left standing with his good friends Ed, in the middle holding his 1st place trophy, and Shane on the right holding his 5th place trophy.) .... and today's injury report for Matt: painful left hip, split lip and big scratches under his chin ; add this to Thursday's sprained thumb, black eye and big scratch on his face.......hmmmmm... that's all I'll say about that....... Matt did do well on Thursday, too -- he won 4 out of 5 matches, helping his team get 3rd place out of 16 schools ...... so , according to what I've been told, "it's all worth it".......hmmmmmmmm........no comment......

Well, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go grab that chocolate lobster and my Fresh Vintages, Quitmania, and Gooseberry Patch booklet, and fill up my tub with some of my new luxurious spa stuff and soak , read, and nibble ....... (that is of course until somebody can't find something, needs help with something, wants something to eat , etc, etc, etc...........)

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)