Christmas is over....

Well...the actual day, that is. In Hubby's opinion, Christmas won't come until we are at his parents...only because he gets everything he asks for from them. Blah.
Well, we had an early morning in front of the tree, since we had to leave for the family gathering at 12:40pm. I got a bunch of DVD's, a couple of CD's, some plates (that I didn't want...I wanted to get them for SIL, but I guess no one listened to me when I repeated that...repeatedly!), and a very cool case for my computer. No Legos. No Elton John DVD's. *sigh* But, I could be happy with all that, be grateful that Hubby thought enough to get things he'd know I'd enjoy. But then we had to go to the Christmas Gathering from Hell. Ugh! Ok, so they do a gift draw....but there are all these limits. You can't get a name of someone in your family (which means I can't pick SIL's hubby, or SIL or MIL or DIL), and it's only for people out of high school, so that leaves out a third of the people at this gathering. Anyway, we ALWAYS pick the same names, and pretty much every year the same people get us. So, This year, Hubby and I picked out some nice stuff for our people, but they TEAR into their stuff and they barely stopped yakking long enough to say thanks. Hubby got an impersonal gift basket full of stuff he won't eat. I got a stuffed bear and a Hallmark giftcard. SIL got a sweater....exactly like the one she got and hated last year -- from the same person! Ugh...it's not just the gifts, but this one chunk of the family is so self-absorbed and inconsiderate. We (meaning my side of the family, and SIL's hubby and family) have had to change OUR family Christmas, as well as the Christams stuff that Hubby used to do growing up, just so we could continue to see this side of the family ON Christmas Day. I said last year that I was not doing the gift exchange again, and I'd really rather not even go. SIL actually said the same thing, and MIL has agreed, but no one else will drop the gift exchange (mainly because they wouldn't get to get free stuff). Well, I think after this year, we WILL NOT be participating....I don't think SIL will even go, and I'd rather not. I'm hoping my mom would like to go back to doing christmas on Christmas instead of the Eve, then we'll do that, and do Christmas Eve with Hubby's family and just be done with it all in two days.
This gathering has RUINED Christmas for me for the last too many years. I was fine when we got there, but as more people came, ignored grandma, and then smothered her and talked very loudly about all the food they ate last night, I got crabbier and crabbier. By the time we got to presents I was ready to go home. Then we get home and it doesn't feel like any special day. Hubby says this is how he grew up....and it sucked! I'm like, then let's stop doing it!! I hoping that SOMEDAY we'll have kids, and I will NOT spend my Christmases rushing through presents, only to tell the kids, "nope, you can't play with your new toys. We have to go now."
Blah. I hate Christmas. Hopefully this will change next year.
Time to go to bed...I'm freekin' cold. And I want to read my new Walt Disney book :)