December 25th

So there I was, sound asleep last night/this morning, when I heard this thumping noise above me. I own a two story home, so I got up from the bed and went upstairs and check on the boys. My alarm clock with the large LED's said 1:30 am, and I was a little more than annoyed that I had to go and tell the two boys to be quiet and go to sleep.

When I went upstairs, all the lights were off and both boys were well asleep. Wondering aloud why I got out of bed for a stupid dream, I wandered back downstairs. As I was nearing the base of the staircase, I heard a series of loud bumps, then full-throated laughter. I ran back upstairs in the dark, hoping to catch them in their act. Turning on the lights in each room, the boys were still both asleep, and were in the same positions I had seen them in less than a minute before.

The neighbors' dog was barking his insane howl, and I was thoroughly pissed now as I crawled back into the warm, waiting bed. 1:33 am, and I was awake. Jeesh!

This morning, the boys awakened the wifey and I at around 8:15, and we all went out into the living room for the obligatory gift opening. There were an astounding number of gifts under and around the tree that weren't there last evening. Baseball bats; batting helmets; batting gloves; Red Sox World Series memorabilia, etc. As we all took turns opening our presents, my wife looked at me strangely. I asked her what was wrong, and she whispered to me, "I didn't see any of this on the Master Card, the Visa, or the debit card statements. Did you buy it all yesterday?"

I told her I didn't buy any of it, and I was about to ask her when she did all this shopping. She looked at me and said, "Stop screwing around...when did you get all of this?" I repeated that I had not bought a single item except those that were wrapped and placed under the tree days and days ago. "Well, I didn't buy any of it," she reiterated.

"Really?", I said. "For real...you didn't?"

"Nope." "For real. I didn't."