The "Sack of Stuff" 2014

Continuing from this post.

Every year, my mother-in-law gives us a large Christmas bag with our gifts in it. We call it our SOS: Sack of...STUFF.

And, every year, we CAN.NOT.WAIT to see what prizes we will get. Basically, the gift is the GIFT CARD she gives us, but it's the other stuff she gives...and the reason behind it...that makes our Family Christmas so much fun.

Also, one of my sisters-in-law came down early in the week to help my mother-in-law...and she ended up finding all kinds of gifts that were meant to have been given over the years. My mother-in-law had bought them, hidden them, and then completely forgot about them. My sister-in-law said that they lined up all the sacks and just started throwing things into each bag.

Which, that became obvious as we started digging into our bags.

And ALSO...my mother-in-law had a stack of the new Taylor Swift CD "1989" sitting on the kitchen table, and she was giving the CDs to whoever wanted one of them. She had gotten them "on special" at The Krogers for $4.99. She almost didn't get them because she thought it was an old CD...because it had 1989 on it.

BECAUSE IT HAD 1989 ON IT.

Bless it.

How old does she think Taylor Swift is?

I happen to know that Taylor Swift was born on December 13, 1989...and the reason I know this is because she and my Holly Bear share a birthday. Same day...different year. So Taylor Swift would've had to have made a CD as a 2 week old baby in order for this to even be reasonable.

And I "get" that when you aren't familiar with the artist, it IS confusing to try and figure out if the CD is new or not. Anyway, I thought it was funny.

Now to our SACKS. This year, my mother-in-law found the largest gift bags I've ever seen...and we ALL got one. Down in my sack was a large can of popcorn, 2 packages of emery boards, and a package of tweezers.

Tryin' to tell me somethin', Mammaw? Like my nails look bad and my eyebrows need attention?

And the popcorn. WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THE CANNED POPCORN? I thought we had finally gotten away from that. Years ago, my mother-in-law discovered the joy that is the canned popcorn. Jim and I worked at a bank when we were first married and still in college, and part of our Christmas gift from the bank was a giant can of popcorn. My mother-in-law went NUTS over it, and a tradition was born.

A tradition where she gave us giant cans of popcorn for Christmas. This went on for many years, but finally she went on to other things...like flashlights.

My mother-in-law started buying flashlights by the DROVES, and we all got flashlights for Christmas for many, many years. Jim and his brothers would say, "MOMMA...WE STILL HAVE THE FLASHLIGHTS YOU GAVE US LAST YEAR." She didn't listen. We would get more flashlights the next year. And the next year. And the next.

Same thing with the "throw blankets." For the past several years, we have EACH gotten a "throw blanket." Because, you know, "you just never know when you might need a throw blanket. They are just so HANDY to throw in the car or take to ballgames or even just lay on the couch. SO HANDY!"

Which, if you read this post, you might say that the "throw blankets" have been very handy for us when it comes to covering all of our furniture.

But I'll tell you what is NOT HANDY: 8 people crammed into a Suburban with 8 sacks and 8 "throw blankets."

Please...just...no.

You see...it's not JUST the popcorn or JUST a flashlight or JUST a "throw blanket"...it's that she would give EACH of us popcorn or a flashlight or a "throw blanket." And Jim and I like popcorn as much as the next person, but who are we...the HULK? WE CANNOT EAT THAT MUCH CANNED POPCORN, MAMMAW. And flashlights? There are 6 people in our family...so that's 6 flashlights, every.single.year.

And just let the power TRY to go out during a storm. Good luck with ANY of us being able to find even one of those flashlights.

Just sayin'.

And while I did not get a throw-blanket OR a flashlight this year, Holly and Joshua got throw-blankets. Holly is pretty much the blanket queen, so she was pretty tickled about it. Some of the girls got decorative "push-pins..." to use on bulletin boards. I didn't get any push-pins, but I ain't mad about it. I've had my share of them over the years, and I am happy for it to be someone else's turn!

It's just so fun to hear my mother-in-law talk about the gifts she gives us. She was SO EXCITED about the canned popcorn. I seriously thought she might lose it at any minute. She said, "there are THREE KINDS of popcorn in the can." And she would hold up three fingers. "THREE KINDS." She said, "Marty, you can take that when you go see your family in Texas."

Yes, yes I can.

And then this, "well, there are THREE DIFFERENT KINDS of popcorn in the cans (holds up 3 fingers again)...but the best part is the CAN. After you eat all of the popcorn, you have the CAN...and the can is so handy! SO HANDY!"

"...the godly show compassion and are generous." Psalm 37:21