It's hard to believe it's Christmas Eve already! It hasn't really seemed the same ever since my Grandma Ina died in 2020. For 38 years of my life, Grandma and Grandpa had all the family over to celebrate Christmas. It was the one time each year we'd definitely see our cousins. It was a loud, full house and we've made so many memories that continued through my kids' childhood, too (although some years they couldn't go because they were with their dad). Spending so many years doing the same thing and then suddenly not doing anymore...it's just very sad. The family really doesn't get together as a group except for special events like weddings. It's sad how things change, but it's inevitable, I suppose.
Part of the same Christmas routine since I was a baby was going to my mom's dad and stepmom's house for Christmas with that side of the family. While the group has gotten smaller as people have moved away and started their own families, my immediate family is still there every year. My grandpa is 90 years old now, but hopefully we'll still have many years left to keep the tradition going.
Other than that we haven't been doing much. Johnny went to his daughter's house last night. My Cricut Maker 4 didn't arrive until yesterday afternoon, so I was busy setting that up and making orders that were due to ship today. And my Romeo started cutting off center on Friday and I was frustrated so I decided to just wait on finishing the orders. It was working so well...then all the sudden it was off. I figured out how to do the calibration...but even after calibrating, like, a dozen times...it was still off. But then I found how to manually adjust the camera and after a few test cuts and adjustments, I was able to get it cutting perfectly again. Thank goodness! My CandiMakerPlanners shop is doing better this December (and year) than last year. So far my CandiMakerStickers shop is almost on par with last December (I've only gotten 1 less order so far compared to last year), but I've had a 37% increase in orders and a 52% increase in revenue for this year compared to this point last year. Most of the increase in revenue is because I sell a lot more magnets now, which are a higher price point than stickers.
Johnny asked me today if I got gifts for the dogs. Uh...I wasn't planning on it. lol. They already have a ton of toys and it's not like they know it's Christmas. But...I went ahead and got each of the puppies three new stuffed animals. I started out trying to get them through Petco, but every single thing I'd added to the cart for same day delivery ended up saying sold out a short time later. Johnny said he'd go to Petco after work if I couldn't order any...but they close at 7pm which is when Johnny gets off work. So I looked at Chuck & Don's website and was able to find a lot of toys available for same day delivery. I found three separate brands that had two of the same-ish size different animals (well, one is a snowman)...and I like things to be equal. ;)
I'll wrap them before Johnny gets off work and then we'll have them open the presents tonight after dinner. Last year, Bozley was more interested in the wrapping paper than the presents (he liked them after we threw the wrapping paper away, though). Nova LOVES toys and always has particular toys that she's most attached to. And when she gets excited--like waiting for her breakfast, waiting for us to sit down to eat dinner, or when Johnny is getting ready to go to bed--she'll lay on the floor and squeak one of her toys over and over again. She'll also look for specific toys that she wants at any given time. Bozley tends to just want whatever toy (or sock, shoe, or a stray towel he found somewhere) is closest to put in his mouth when he gets excited. He doesn't care at all about squeakers or anything. His favorite "toys" are rocks or sticks that he finds in the yard that he can toss around and roll around on. He does like tennis balls...though he isn't as great about the second part of fetch. He'll bring it back...he just won't let you have it. :P And interestingly enough, Nova doesn't care that much about tennis balls except for tearing them apart. And 9/10 times if you throw the ball to her, she'll run after it...but then just walk away once she gets to it. They're such funny puppies. And yes...I know that they're 5 years old and not literally puppies...but they'll always be our puppies. ;)
We've been watching Invasion in the evenings while we eat dinner. Johnny watched an episode while he was visiting his brother in Seattle, so we started it from the beginning. We're only on S01E07. But tonight, Johnny and I are planning to watch Tom Segura's new Netflix special. He's one of our favorite comedians. The second volume of Stranger Things drops tomorrow, but we might not start it until this weekend. About this time last year I had just watched Season 6 of Virgin River and was talking about how we didn't have to wait until next December for Season 7. Well...we don't have to wait until December...we have to wait even longer. :P That's one thing I hate about the change to streaming...it seems that so many shows take forever to release the next season. We used to get 20-24 episodes a season and there was only a break over the summer and a shorter hiatus around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now you get only 7-10 episodes and it's typically at least a year before you get to watch the next season. You can binge watch an entire season in a weekend (or a day if you're not doing anything else). It's just really annoying.
Well...I suppose I shall go wrap presents. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas!