Do you believe in Santa?

I DO! Obviously I don't mean the jolly guy in the red suit, I mean the SPIRIT of Santa Claus. I am overwhelmed by the generosity of others.

• The Christmas that Onna was born, we received a gift certificate for groceries in the mail from the Ladies' Aid at my church.
• Last year I received another gift certificate for groceries from the Ladies Aid. I also received a $180 gift certificate in the mail from "Anonymous Friends."
• This year on Monday afternoon, there were gifts left on my doorstep with the gift tag "from Santa." There was a scarf, gloves and slippers for me. (The scarf and gloves match my coat exactly) For Onna there was a pair of slippers and a small make-up mirror. Today I got the mail. I hadn't been to the Post Office for a few days, so my box was very full. I had a few Christmas cards in there, but one of them got my attention right away, because the return address was "Santa." Inside was a card that read, "Wishing you a holiday you'll always remember. Merry Christmas from "Santa" Along with that there was a typed note that said, "Enclosed is a $150 VISA gift card. This card can be used any where that accepts VISA credit cards. Please use this money for food, gas, clothing or gifts. We wish you a Merry Christmas and may God bring you blessings."

I am so surprised by these gifts. I am also very thankful. In a way it was hard to accept them, although they've made such a great difference to me. It's hard to "swallow my pride" and accept the kindness of others. It made me a little uncomfortable when I first received the scarf and gloves. Whomever gave them to me, not only noticed that I don't wear any, but paid close enough attention to match them so closely. I am thankful and I will use them, I'm just surprised that people notice, and take the time to do things like that.

The other thing that surprised me about this year's gifts is that both Onna's name and my name (first and last) were spelled correctly. That means I either know this person well, or they spent time figuring out how to spell it. It's not very often that I get a piece of mail with BOTH my first and last name spell right!

I am SO excited about the $150. That is A LOT of money to me right now! The really exciting part is that I was already planning to go shopping tomorrow, and Onna is getting her 3-year-old pictures taken. That money will help stretch my budget a lot further.

Onna and I had an AMAZING Christmas. We both were spoiled by family and friends. My main gift was a very much needed vacuum:

Onna got too many toys to mention! She had a lot of late nights playing with her "uncle Eric." She really adores him, so it's too bad that he lives so far away. We had everyone here for Christmas Eve. I'll try to get some pictures posted later.