Christmas morning was great here in cold Arkansas although we did have a humorous situation in the midst of the joy. Let me see if I can paint the picture clearly for you.
Christmas shopping falls exclusively to me most of the time. Holiday trips to the mall begin with my mother. I attempt to find gift options for her to give to everyone on her list. Needless to say, this can become rather difficult each year as I end up showing her the item that I was planning on giving.....and she takes it. At first, this was very frustrating. Now I know it's inevitable and just means that I will have a shopping adventure later in the season.
This year things turned out a little differently though. For the Thanksgiving holidays, my parents and I traveled to Conroe, Texas with my brother and his wife to visit family. Since I was teaching a Monday evening class, I wasn't able to leave until late that evening. My brother and parents left early Monday morning. To insure that they would have some clear directions, I suggested that Dad take his GPS with him.
When I arrive in Conroe on Tuesday, Mom tells me that she already knows what she is giving my brother and his wife for Christmas -- a GPS. After the surprise wore off (Mom NEVER comes up with gift ideas) I realized that this was actually a great idea. Mom continued to tell how O'Neal and Patsy had commented that they would like to have GPS in their cars. Dad off-handedly commented that we might want to give the GPS to them before Christmas to make sure they didn't buy them for themselves. Black Friday rolls around, I find a great deal online for the navigation systems, and the items ship.
Fast forward to Christmas morning. Mom and I have been cooking much of the morning and Mom is dressing for the day when my brother arrives. One of the first bits of conversation reveals that O'Neal had received a GPS for Christmas from Patsy. I grin and drop my head, knowing what is about to happen. Of course, everyone laughs and begins to ask if I bought one for them as well. By this point, Oneal's daughter crawls across the floor to whisper that she is giving her dad a navigation system as well.
Once Mom rejoins the festivities, we exchange gifts with my brother and his family. The laughter and glimmering eyes as O'Neal and Patsy open their second and third GPS's of the day were priceless. By the time they receive the fourth, we are contemplating opening a retail store specializing in these navigational devices!
In all the years that we have exchanged gifts, this has NEVER happened before in my family. The comedy continued on Christmas evening after everyone had left. Mom sat on the couch making plans for next Christmas.....trying to come up with a gift-giving plan that will insure this doesn't happen again....and to keep the fun alive. "O what a tangled web we weave....."
I'm still celebrating the holidays, so I'll continue to close with a jolly "Merry Christmas!"
Kennith
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