Dark Pearls of Wisdom

Christmas in the Hyde House

It was a white Christmas for us at the Hyde household, and a pretty darn nice one were it not for one thing. But, I’ll wait on that for a minute.

Rather than provide a list of crap given and received this year, I’ll only hit the highlights. My wife is a big fan of mystic topaz (a treated form of topaz that looks better than much more expensive sparklies), and I gifted her with a mystic topaz ring she’d had her eye on.

I also gave my wife a short (3 sessions) class in photography by a pair of local photo gurus. Frankly, we’ve got a lot of useless crap in our lives and don’t really need more stuff. What we need are skills and time. I can’t give people time other than my own (and there isn’t a lot of that), but I can help my loved ones get better at what they enjoy.

The little guy got a ton of ‘Mater stuff (Tow Mater from the Pixar movie Cars), which is just what he wanted. At three-years old he’s into trucks and Mater is just the ticket.

For the big girl, she got a ton of books. The kid reads really fast, but she’s got the attention span of a ferret on speed. I’m also going to sign her up for some sports this winter, so she can get her energy out without torturing her little brother.

I got a bunch of stuff, including a really fine miniature of Serenity, the ship from Firefly and the movie Serenity. Also coming my way were socks (which I desperately needed) and shirts (which I also needed) and a few books and movies. All in all, it was a fine haul. But when the day was over, I wasn’t entirely satisfied. I thought about it, and I couldn’t figure it out, then it hit me. I’d been so wrapped up in the hoolabaloo of our family Christmas that I’d missed it.

I didn’t follow the admonition of Christ – to give.

This year my work didn’t give out gift cards like they did the previous two years. The cards totaled $100, which was a nice treat, but not for me. Both years I gave them to our church leader to give to those in need. Now, I don’t say that to aggrandize myself, but to point out that I didn’t do that this year. I didn’t sacrifice for others. I took.

So, I’m going to make an early resolution: This is the last year that happens. I don't know how I'm going to make it work, but I will.

posted by Neal5x5 @ 4:40 PM