more about christmas

we got the tree December 2. we decorated throughout the first week of December. we listened to Christmas music all the while. since we were going to SC for Christmas, leaving on Christmas Eve, we decided to open the gifts we'd gotten for each other on Sunday the 23rd. Shawn gave me the Charlie Brown Christmas Special soundtrack (I've been wanting it for years); a book of Rilke poetry, and some slippers (LOVE them...they keep my feet nice and warm; and I've never owned a pair of slippers before). I gave him some pancake mix, a bar of dark chocolate, a pruning saw (for the Christmas tree next year) and some cologne (SLATE from Banana Republic). We went to SC and spent the week with my family. One of the highlights was a trip to visit the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC.