I spent 12 hours on Wednesday editing photos... so I was able to take a bit of time off around the holiday. And it felt pretty fantastic. Not only that, but my client was SO excited about her photos. Surprisingly, I don't always get a reaction (I deliver files electronically), and it's such a treat when I do.

The holiday itself was pretty good. We do a lot of running around, and while it's nice to see everyone, it's exhausting at the same time. Black Friday we stayed in and put up our tree. I don't bother with shopping. Though we did watch some videos online of stores opening up on Black Friday - honestly, it was probably one of the more depressing things I've seen (which is saying something given the news recently). People trampling each other and fighting over boxes. It's like we've abandoned the concept of decency in favor of stuff. Granted, I know it's not like that everywhere, but still...

I did do a bit of online shopping yesterday - Amazon had the Echo listed for $150 instead of $180, so that was a great deal. The $10 gift card I had essentially took care of the taxes, and it ships free. So DH's big gift is done. Picked up a book for my sister as well.

I also hopped on Bath & Body Work's site to see if they had any deals on Wallflowers - that's what I get for my MIL every year, and sure enough they were marked down to $3.50 from the usual $6 each. I got 3 of those and some random lotions, etc. They were having a buy 2 get one free deal, and I'll be giving away two of them as gifts.

Still waiting to hear what mom wants - she pulled this weird, "Don't worry about me..." thing after she asked at length what we would like. Like we're not going to get her a gift. Sigh. I'm just hoping she lets me know soon. I'd rather not do the last minute thing, and it seems silly to buy her random stuff if there's something she's planning to purchase anyway.

I do have some designing and putting together of presents as well. I don't do a whole lot of hand-made, but definitely a good bit of custom-made. It's where my skillset becomes really helpful! I'd rather do something special than generic most of the time.

DH asked what I wanted last night - and I'm still not 100% sure. Originally I threw out the idea of a Roomba. We have 2 cats and I constantly battle with pet hair. But then I realized that I was asking for a $300 vacuum cleaner and I just felt silly. haha. Our vacuum works great, and it's not that much work. I've been thinking of getting a Fitbit for a while now, so I suggested that. And maybe one of those fancy camera harnesses. I'll need to do some research on that, though. I'm trying to reduce the amount of stuff we have, so that makes it a bit difficult. And equipment for work is a bit too expensive to ask for xmas. That's better for tax write-offs.

At any rate, time to get to work. I've got a lot to get done this week! Hope you all had a lovely holiday!