The Elf

I am the Christmas Elf at our house.

I do the decorating - although this year I actually had help with the tree and I almost fainted from the shock! Usually they help me for 5 min. and disappear. This year they stayed and decorated and laughed and giggled for over an hour until the tree was done. And I loved every second of it - even though I've spent another 2 hours primping the tree without their knowledge. (Ornaments need to hang, not sit on the branches.) Some things have to be done right, you know?

I do the shopping.
I'm the crazy person out at 5am on Black Friday.
I'm the one who is up at all hours surfing the internet for bargains.
For me, it's the thrill of the hunt...  I take pride in finding what they want at a price I'm willing to pay.
(Mr. only has to shop for me and I even tell him what I want and where to get it at the best price.)

I do the wrapping.
All of it.
I should train them, but really... I like to wrap.
This year I decided to beautify my presents with real bows made with real ribbon that I purchased at a real bargain after Christmas last year.  (We haven't had presents with ribbon in years.  I used to use curling ribbon, but the cats used it as dental floss. By the time Christmas day rolled around, it was quite disgusting and no one wanted to touch the ribbons to open the gifts. This is not exactly the response you want on Christmas morning. Trust me...)

I usually wrap gifts on our island in the kitchen. It's warm with the fire going, and it's a large expanse on which to spread out the paper, tape, and other wrapping goodies.  Mr. sits and works on his computer on a small corner of the island while I wrap.  We keep each other company and he gets a sneak peek at the kids' gifts.

I was in the midst of wrapping when Mr. had a realization:
Christmas is easy when you have an Elf in the family.

I grinned.
Yes, Dear, it is.

He is a very lucky man.
And I am one appreciated Elf.