A few things happened since 12/25 that delayed the publishing of my Christmas blog post.  Parenting.  Relaxing.  Surprise snowfall.  Enjoying time with family.  Tearing open new toys and putting them together.  Sleep, sleep, and more sleep.  Aaaaaaaand…disgust, anger, and depression.  Yeah.

Chances are, when you casually admit to not feeling much in the way of “holiday spirit,” someone is going to chime in with the Jesus Is The Reason For The Season bit.  Or that Christmas isn’t about gifts, it’s about… Giving.  Family.  Love.  Memories.  And stuff.

I get it.

I have fantastic childhood Christmas memories.  My mom made Christmas magical for me.  Christmas was equal parts Baby Jesus and Santa Magic.  It was cookies and hot cocoa.  Christmas carols and crafts.  Sunday School and Centerville Elementary School “Santa Gift Shop” with the most spectacular Christmas shit you could buy for your family members.

(My mom still has that bookmark I got her…sometime after 1985.  She still USES it.)

But let’s break it down to bare bones, here.  Christmas is a time to be happy, and it is really, REALLY hard to be happy when your life is crumbling in front of your eyes.

When I decided to start this blog, I committed to being REAL.  What you’re reading is real.  My thoughts.  My words.  My struggle.  My highs and lows.  The food I cook, the crafty things I make.  If I rave about a product, it’s because I love it, not because I am being compensated to try it and publicize it.

Glitter & Bruises is authentic.  The good times…the glitter.  The bad times…the bruises.

And so I struggled with this Christmas blog post, because…well, I feel like a real jerk for admitting how terribly sad/angry/resentful/depressed/guilty/hateful/brokenhearted/helpless I am right now.  There’s a voice inside my head that says, “There is a lesson to be learned here” and I’m just like, “Yeah–sorry.  I’m in too deep right now to see it.”

But before you brush me off as just another Greek American Princess with first world problems, I want you to know that Glitter & Bruises is a “memoir in the making” and there are layers of “issues” that are contributing to my state of mind these days.  Some day, when I have more years to reflect back on, I will write about some of these things (and people) who are causing stress in my life…trust me, the issue isn’t just a black and white “we’re poor, we have no jobs” issue.

So–in case you didn’t read about it, I got some amazing deals when I went Black Friday shopping.  It was those BOGO Free deals, those clearance deals, those “free gift cards/Kohl’s cash when you spend X” promotions that allowed me to stretch the Christmas dollars as far as possible and put some really fantastic gifts under the tree.  When I made a purchase at Toys R Us (for my mom), I got a free gift card to use on a future purchase, which I stacked with a TRU coupon and an in-store promotion on Playmobil.  BAM–like I would ever pay full price for anything?

Because paying full price is a financially responsible move.  Mmmhmm.  Tell ‘em, Bey.

So long story short, Christmas was done on a budget, with a couple l’il surprises for me and Ron.  Yiayia and Papou came over on Christmas morning and we spent the rest of the day relaxing until it was time for Christmas dinner at their house, along with Nouna, Nouno, and the Girl Cousins.

Coming down the stairs in Sasquatch Christmas jammies!

Santa was here!

Gifts from Santa are wrapped in Santa paper.

This kid. He really surprised me this year. I thought he would work from front to back, but he went right for the Santa gifts.

He asked Santa for these Monsuno things. They’re little robot animals. He loves animals.

The awesome thing about Monsuno is that they were on clearance everywhere we went. All of these Monsuno-things were under $3 each at Kmart.

These Papo Fantasy figurine sets were originally $40 each.

But we found them on Black Friday for $10 each.

We bought three for $30 instead of three for $120. Remind me again why I have no business going Black Friday shopping?

Another Black Friday steal–$15 for a bucket of Legos at Walmart (Toys R Us shelf price is $60!)

Matchbox Big Boots Arctic Yeti Expedition…he wanted this SO bad…

That face says it all…

Another shocker…deep discounted Monsuno Battle Arena. (SO glad these were on clearance with an additional 20% off!)

All of his clothes were from Mommy and Daddy…it’s hard to get excited about clothing, but come on–look how stinkin’ CUTE this Puma shirt is?!?!?

Knitting. Crocheting. I want to learn how to do both.

I’m a little embarrassed at how happy I am for this.

We bought binoculars for cousin Lydia and I picked up a pair for Gabriel too.

He opened them and said, “I thought these were for Lydia?”

And I told him I bought another pair for him when he wasn’t looking. “WHO IS A SNEAKY SHOPPER?”

I, um…don’t work out, but I found a few of these moisture wicking tank tops for 90% off and then an additional 15% off. I KNOW. Crazy.

To me…from Ron. It’s so, um…romantic?

Perez Hilton’s book about acceptance and being yourself! Ron was giving me shit about it! So it was from ME only.

Angel cards…

…because I am sad and I need daily affirmations.

A special gift for Daddy…

(that Gabriel really wants)

Because his dad might be Polish and from the Jersey Shore but that boy is built like a Greek and raised like a true central Pennsylvanian.

Don’t laugh but I really wanted a color wheel.

This is a vintage color wheel from the 60s.

I played with it, um….for a long time.

This is a really nice book!!

Selfies with Sasquatch!

My Sascrotch

Yiayia and Papou came over with the big Apatosaurus Battle Dino.

And a two-headed dragon. I mean, a two headed Greek dragon.

And also some Greek Mythology figures, like Medusa, Hercules, Zeus, and someone else, I forget. THANK YOU YIAYIA AND PAPOU!!

This was for me (I knew what it was) but there was no sticker on it, so I let Gabriel open it.

He was NOT happy about it.

But I was like, “Hey…you use it, don’t you?”

I’m explaining to Mom that YES this is still my favorite Christmas present.

This, and paper towels. And baggies, too.

Because seriously–who wants to spend money on paper products? I LOVE MY YEARLY SCOTT, BOUNTY, AND ZIPLOC STOCK UP!

Don’t let the box fool you…no fresh nuts–only fresh chocolate covered animal crackers (my weeeeakness!!)

Medusa’s selfie

MAC Paint Pot in Painterly in my stocking…

Also NYX lip liners in my stocking…

Of course I had to beat my face and take CHRISTMAS SELFIES!!

Lovin’ the MAC Paint Pot (Painterly) and NYX lip pencil (deep red) with new-to-me matte lipstick in Alabama.

Lovin’ the MAC Paint Pot (Painterly) and NYX lip pencil (deep red) with new-to-me matte lipstick in Alabama.

Peanut Butter Blossoms, Toll House cookies, and M&M Cookies on a plate to take to Yiayia’s house. Plus I made brownies.

Annual Christmas Selfie with my GORGEOUS nieces, Rhea and Ava. We only condone “duckface” when it’s obviously a forced, almost sarcastic in-yo-face duckface.

Nouna was kissin’ and sniffin’ Gabriel, who was wearing his new “smell good” from Santa.

Yiayia made me a surprise! I thought she was making ham in addition to lamb…but I am TOTALLY OK with yiaprakia! (dolma, dolmades stuffed grape leaves)

10 years after gastric bypass surgery, and my Christmas dinner was 2 tablespoons of rice, these two yiaprakia, plus the one I stuffed in my mouth when I saw them. Just in case you were wondering what my meals look like. Still after 10 years, my parents say, “Is that all you’re eating??!?!” LOL

Yiayia asked Ava to put the bowl of plain yogurt in the bag. Um, so she did. After a few scoops, she said, “This is really messy!” We had a really good laugh over that…

WHAT A GIFT! Dimitri let me pick him up for Christmas!! He is SO lightweight…it really surprised me. He felt like a feather.

Playmobil Treasure Temple from Nouna, Nouno and cousins…he LOST HIS MIND…(ok, so did I…LOL)

In addition to (surprisingly inexpensive) binoculars, we picked up this sparkly purple telescope for Lydia, who LOST HER EVER-LOVIN’ MIND. See video after the photo gallery.

Me and my Gabriel Christopher <3

Me and my Gabriel Christopher <3 MY JOY

So there it is…our Christmas 2013.  The year we didn’t have jobs.  Or stability.  Or hope.  Or happiness.  But…somehow we made it through.  We tend to romanticize our past…to remember things better than they were…  I hope that is the case for Christmas 2013.  I hope I can look back one day and remember this as a happy time.  More importantly, I hope Gabriel remembers this Christmas as a magical, happy time.

One thing I will never forget, for sure…  is Lydia’s reaction to opening up the telescope we got her.  And what I captured on video.  You’ve got to see this, but I want you to know one thing–I started filming this after she had ran at least dozen laps around Yiayia’s first floor.  Her hootin’ and hollerin’ had been going on for several minutes before I turned on the video camera.  And then this happened:

[su_youtube url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMUqLteMpxs"]

That makes me happy.