There’s this meme I’ve seen several times, as I’m sure millions of others have because it’s very popular. The background varies, but the message pretty much stays the same: “This time last year was so different.” Every time I have read it, I have liked it because it was always true-good or bad.
Today was a little different though. I was figuring out a way to wrap my husband’s Christmas present. Actually, I had wrapped it, but wanted to place the gift in a box (I figure it’s more fun that way). After I wrapped it, I finally figured out how to solve the problem of packaging it in the box. Hallelujah! There was just one more problem: the adorable kittens and puppies wrapping paper I purchased just for wrapping this gift was not enough for the gift AND the large box. I started thinking about patching up the different wrapping papers I had, but was really not digging the whole idea of mismatched paper. I then remembered that I had some leftover wrapping paper from last year. I dug it out of the corner and, lo and behold, it was enough. More than enough, really!
Delighted, I started wrapping the box and then I started crying just a bit as I was overwhelmed thinking about just how different life was last year.
As a matter of fact, I have been thinking about that a lot lately. When we first got here, we did a lot of dollar store grocery and household shopping; going to Walmart was a splurge to get things-and you can forget about frequent trips to Fresh and Easy or Ralph’s (especially after our first night in our California home purchase-scary). This year we aren’t shopping at upscale grocery stores, but our trips to the dollar store are more limited to paper products and novelties. We are now able to shop at other places for our groceries and manage to survive financially.
Our Christmas last year was very humble, to say the least. We had a small, simple meal at home and our gifts were on a real limited budget. Now, I ADORE the gift my husband gave me; in fact, I’m wearing that necklace tonight. However, I hadn’t felt like I had been able to give my husband a good enough gift, as my options were limited with the budget. Fortunately, this year I have been blessed to have been able to get him a gift I think he’ll truly enjoy. It’s nothing out of this world, but it’s a nice gift for him and he really deserves something special for being a wonderful husband. Last year, there was no way in the world I could have gotten him this gift (or anything in the vicinity), but this year, I WAS. I have to thank God for really looking out for us through this year & always providing and helping us manage when things weren’t as fruitful.
I do know that my honey was able to get me something as well, and I’m certain I’ll enjoy it, but I’m really looking forward to seeing my husband open his gifts this year, and well, all the fun meals we’ll be preparing together!