Christmas tradition with a twist

Occasionally I twist some memories.  Ok.  Alright.  Sometimes I "borrow" them from others and make them my own.

This one I'm about to tell you, though, I swear is mine.  All mine.

When we were teenagers it obviously became a bit difficult buying for us at Christmas time.  If you've already survived that phase you know what I'm talking about.

You get what you think is going to be the coolest (such dorks) gift and your teenager looks at you like you should be institutionalized.

My mom was brilliant.  She bought us clothes.  I know.  Brave, eh? How could she know they'd fit?  Well, she blindfolded us and had us try them on before she wrapped them up!

I can remember running my hands over the clothing trying to figure out - was it a kilt (yes, this was back in the 60s),  a jumper (again, 60s), a cardigan?

So my sister, Lisa, has taken that tradition and tweaked it a bit.
She recently came back from a visit to Thailand and bought everyone in the family the same piece of clothing but in different colors.  One size fits all.  Should be interesting.

She had Peter and me come down and pick the ones (folded in such a way on the back of the couch it was difficult to tell exactly what they were) we liked - color wise, before shipping the rest out.

Brilliant, eh?  Mom's going to be so proud.

I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell the rest of the family that we got first pick.  Might be some hard feelings because we got preferential treatment.  Well, we're special.  So there!

The "up" side of winter

This will be a short blog.  As you know if you've been hangin' with me for a while - I'm not a fan of winter.

Actually, to put it in stronger language - I HATE IT!  

It occurred to me while getting dressed this morning that there is, indeed, an up side to this 3 to 4 month long torture.

You can wear the same clothes today that you wore yesterday because no one is going to see what's under all those layers.