my box of goodies
I enjoy wrapping packages. I always have. I'll admit I don't enjoy it as much now as I used to because nowadays I'm doing it super last minute. But I still like it. I buy a few new rolls of paper each year. I search around for just the perfect roll that screams at me "BUY ME"! Of course I never use an entire roll every year because I have so many to choose from so my wrapping collection is quite big. Then there are the sacks. I try very hard to not use sacks for presents that my family opens on Christmas morning. I usually succeed. I will use sacks for secret santa or a few odds and ends here or there, but there is just something about tearing into wrapping paper that shouts Christmas Morning! Let's not forget about the tissue paper. Last year, or the year before, I came across some red, white, and green tissue paper with glitter. Perfect! Although I have recently realized it's quite messy. I don't mind glitter but after wrapping up a gift last week I found it all over my couch. A little annoying, but still beautiful.
Last, but certainly not least are the bows. There are the traditional bows that come in sacks. You know, the ones that are various colors and you just peal the paper off and stick them on. Mom showed me a few years ago how to give these bows a little kick. She had seen someone at her school do it. You just cut the loops, except for the middle one, with scissors and it opens it up a bit and gives it a flower effect. Now every year I snazz up my bows like this. 
I do try to make a few bows of my own out of ribbon. There is not always time for this but it is a nice added touch to any gift. Last year after a family get together there were a ton of handmade bows, that my aunt had made, about to be thrown away. I snatched these up and have already reused them this year. And what's even better, is when the people you exchange presents with leave without their homemade bows in hand. Then you get to use them again! :-) I'm in charge of the giveaway this week for the TWOC. This prize will consist of a bag of bows, various sacks, homemade bows, and gift tags that can be used for next year. 
I actually didn't wrap this gift but thought it was a cute sack used at our secret santa exchange at work.
My family called early on in the day to say it was snowing there, an hour away. Around 1 they told me the roads were starting to get a bit slick and wondered if I could leave early. I think they were pretty worried I wouldn't make it home for Christmas. I popped off and told Courtney that Jax and I would make it even if it took us 5 hours. Little did I know that this would ring somewhat true. My supervisor and VP were off on Thursday so I went to our sister team's supervisor and asked if there was anyway I could take off early due to the weather. He told me the roads weren't bad (because they really weren't too bad in our area at the time) and said that he couldn't let me leave because we had so much work to be done. I didn't argue and just told my family I couldn't leave early and that I would call them when Jax and I left town. I jumped up and walked out at 4, gathered up stuff at my apt, and was on the road to Decatur at 4:38. The snow was piling up here but the roads didn't seem icy at all. I hopped on the tollway and drove a bit slower than normal, but it really wasn't too bad. I thought "Oh good, my family over-exaggerated, these roads are fine". I was making good progress. The snow was falling pretty heavy and the wind was whipping it across the road but other cars had made pretty good ruts and I was doing fine. My family continued to call me quite often as they had done all afternoon while at work. Something you must understand is that my father is a worry wart. He comes from a LONG line of worry warts. He's also a retired Highway Patrolman. He's seen all the bad stuff and it's pretty much never left his mind. So when one of his own is in a potentially dangerous situation he goes into worry overdrive. Mom said she didn't even have to worry because he was doing enough for the both of them. Anyway, the phone calls kept coming to check on my progress. I made it to Denton and the snow started to get thicker, it was getting dark, and the ruts were much harder to see, but I was still trucking along fine. Slow, but fine. Jax would NOT hush. He meowed the entire way. He'd been alone for 2 days since I was away dog-sitting and the minute I got home I grabbed him up and put him in a crate. He did not care for this. He's also not the best traveler and tends to meow a lot anyway. Let me tell ya, this did NOT help my nerves. Somewhere along the way I noticed that my windshield had cracked. As if I needed any more drama. I had a small knick in the windshield and with the combo of ice, snow, using my windshield wipers, and defroster it cracked. :( I was happy to be getting closer to Decatur. I was getting VERY tired (as I hadn't had a lot of sleep lately) and visibility was getting worse and worse. I just wanted to be done with this. Dad called to see where I was and I told him I was coming up on Imperial (a company on the outskirts of town). All of a sudden I topped a hill and all I could see was a stream of break lights. As far as the eye could see it was break lights. Dad & I figured someone must have had a wreak. We hung up and I sat there. I sat, and sat, and sat, and sat. It was awful. Dad called back to say he'd called the police dept. (of course he had) and they said it was very slick in that section of the road and people were jack-knifing. Crap! I'm already super stressed out, I have no clue how long this is going to take, and I have GOT to pee. I sat there for what seemed like forever and didn't move. The line of cars started to move forward finally but the Dodge pickup in front of me was having issues. His back wheels were just spinning on the snow/ice and he wasn't moving anywhere. I backed up to give him some room but no matter how much backing he did he couldn't get any traction. After a few cars started to go around him I joined in. I felt bad leaving him behind but there was nothing I could do for him. Of course we get around him and then sit forever again. We move just a little bit and then sit. A BMW was having lots of issues as well. The guy driving couldn't get any traction either and his back tires just kept spinning. A man up ahead got out of his truck to try to help him and the minute he stepped out he slipped and was face down on the road. He laid there for a few seconds and then tried getting up with the help of someone else. At this point the sand truck arrived. OUR HERO! The truck started dispersing sand along the road and specifically on the BMW, which was FINALLY able to go after all the sand. We slowly but surely inched along and made it into town.
