Visions of Sugarplums....

Okay, so it's that Most Wonderful Time of the Year. It's December 20, 2018. Christmas is 5 days away. I haven't bought a single present for my family. Not one. I used to shop for my kids and "husband du jour" for months! Making lists.....Checking them two/three...okay, eighteen times (can anyone say OCD?)....I bought, I hid, I wrapped. I even had the kids wrap their own gifts after the proverbial Elf fell off the shelf and it was clear that no magical old guy with reindeer was going to pay off my Mastercard. Of course, the kids didn't know they were wrapping their own gifts and I never let them peek in the boxes! I have some sense of Christmas respectability here. So, me, mysuestories, who has shown nothing but the utmost admiration for the Gods of Merchandising is not shopping this year. Cold turkey.... God hide the credit cards and keep the wine flowing......I WILL NOT SHOP FOR PRESENTS. I WILL NOT SHOP FOR PRESENTS! I WIll not shop..... Geez, this is gonna be a rough week to follow me, oh dear constant reader....I'll understand if you switch over to the Omnipresent Idol of Christmas Present.. Amazon Prime....right now.... No? So you're still with me here? Good to know. So this year at the Mountain Man's behest (or perhaps his beheading..I'll have to get back to you on that one!)...we have decided to gift our children with the gift of US! That's right. We have managed to figure out the last thing they would rather do is spend time with us! So, in honor of this knowledge, we have decided to gift the kids we so dearly adore with ,,,wait for it..... SPENDING TIME WITH US!!!! Of course we have to wrap up the double-cross-my heart and hope to die- secret inside of something to make them show up to spend their time with us! So Mountain Man had the perfect idea. We are taking them all Hot Air Ballooning! That's right. Me, with my fear of heights....does anyone remember the shady carnival ride "Master of Upside Down Doom".....put together in twenty un-OSHA approved minutes by a scary, hairy guy of questionable hygiene ? No, just me? All righty then... Moving on... So the Mountain Man and I will be gathering up our most precious (and remaining) children and embark on a HOT AIR BALLOON ride that simply may be the Ghost of Christmas Last for our dear family. What could possibly go wrong? Other than us floating higher into the atmosphere than anything without wings was not meant to go? Or worse, NOT floating higher, but hurtling to the ground from unwieldy heights? Could go either way. Ahh...who am I kidding? With all my hot air, I'm pretty sure we could navigate the globe. And my unsuspecting offspring? Well, wouldn't it be nice to have their undivided attention for 80 days or so? Merry Christmas to me!