Wrap....Another 4 Letter Word

Well, Christmas is nearly upon us. Don't be surprised if I don't post a lot in the next week or so, I've many plans, I'm very popular you know. As proof, please note I was even blog tagged. So there you go.

I would just like to take a moment to reflect a little. This time of year always makes me think of my great-grandma. Not because it's Christmas and it's so special and sentimental, blah blah blah. No. It's because I loathe wrapping.

She was 75 when I was born so she was already in her 80s by the time I started kindergarten. She was always a great topic of conversation with all of my friends....because she was o-l-d. She was a constant, both in my life and in our town. Everyone called her grandma, or grandma Iva. This is a woman who credited her longevity to daily walks and whole milk. She was a force of nature, that woman, living on her own, in her own cute little pale pink house until a few months before she died. She died when she was 102, living through 3 separate centuries. I'm sure I'll have many more Iva stories to post, but this is our special holiday feature.

My grandma loved to wrap. She loved it because she adored the attention she received from people when they received a gift from her. She matched the pattern up on every package she wrapped so seamlessly, that you in fact couldn't see the seam. People would write thank you notes to her noting the amazing wrapping job more than the gift itself. That would just "tickle her pink". And it really did, she'd just smile in pride when she showed off the received thank you note, her cheeks literally turning pink. I remember many a time not being able to see where to open the gift at, she was truly gifted. Almost like a superhero....Giftwrapping Grandma.

Clearly, her gift did not pass on to me. I don't even know how on earth to match paper up that seamlessly, it must take forever. I have no patience for that. I hate wrapping, hate it. I only do it at Christmas time, all other gifts throughout the year are put in gift bags as a rule. I just feel like Christmas is more fun with the pulling off of paper, but don't think I don't hate every last second of wrapping. I make an absolute mess of most packages. My daughter loves her Bratz dolls, but those people at MGA have a serious problem with right angles, they don't believe in them or something. The boxes are never shaped well for wrapping and it surely shows under my tree....the most mangled things you ever saw. My daughter can guess what they are every time. Plus, I don't like to waste the paper, so sometimes I may be a little short on one side or something, so I will take some other leftover paper and just fill in. I tell you, grandma must be so disappointed. She had wrapping down to a true art form, I don't even have form. Though in truth, I don't think grandma would be too disappointed because she'd be truly thrilled that that is one thing I will always remember about her.