Christmas Eve

I'm in the shower by 3am, and headed for mom's by 3:30am, for our annual Christmas Eve WalMart run. I can't wake mom, so I finally head to WalMart on my own. 4am, mom calls and asks if I'm coming. I tell her I'm already at WalMart. She's miffed, so I have to apologize and bribe her with breakfast to get her to come down.
We finish shopping around 7am, and head for I-Hop, just as the WalMart gets to feeling a bit crowded for my liking. Great breakfast! (I can see us adding this to the annual tradition.)
After breakfast, I run home, stash what I can in the house, out of sight, leave the rest in the car, and go to work. (Yes, work. Only 1/2 day, they'll kick us out around noon, but I have stuff that needs to be done, and I need the hours.)
About 3pm I call the boys to remind them we're going to a friends for dinner, and then I leave work, and run an errand on the way home. Once home, I see Twin1 is still in the shower, so I make some caramel & white chocolate apples and pears while I wait (yes, he takes that long. don't ask me how he makes the hot water last, because it's a complete mystery to all of us.) We finally get out the door shortly after 4pm, on our way to dinner. Dinner at friends is great, we head for home around 7pm, stopping off at mom's on the way to pick up/drop off various Christmas goodies and such, pausing in the driveway to listen to "the H street sledding record", which I've never heard all the way through before. We're home before 8pm.
I measure both boys, and head for my pj patterns. Theirs is missing. I finally realize it's in with pj tops I cut out 2 years ago (they've not grown much except in height since then), which is deeply buried in sewing room. Deeply. (Just what possessed me to put something I knew I'd need before Christmas in such an inaccessible place, I really don't know. Especially as I placed it there right around Thanksgiving, so no way did I think I'd reorganize that again before Christmas.) About an hour later, I've retrieved the pattern and restored order in the sewing room, and I start to cut out the pj pants. No problems there, and I proceed to sew them. I'm fast, so I'm not worried. I'm done within another hour, maybe a little more (it was 2 pair, after all), and send boys to bed in new pj pants.
By about 11pm, I'm putting lights on the tree. I think my boys engineer our holiday just so I can't put up the tree until Christmas Eve, because they really really really like how that feels Christmas morning. Whatever. I've got SheDaisy's Brand New Year on the stereo, and I'm feeling pretty good.
Lights take me forever. (Christmas with the Rat Pack, Alley McBeal Christmas, Barenaked for the Holidays, maybe more)
I put on a few ornaments, tuck in some holly and poinsettias, put on a few more ornaments. Finally I give it up, put the star on top, tuck the rest of the ornaments behind the tree (you can still add some later - the tree will be up for at least a week more, right?)
About 1am, I start wrapping presents. I mentioned before how the twins like to get their cereal, ramen, and whatever else, right? All this must be wrapped. Because at their age, what's the fun if it's not wrapped? By 3am, I am cursing myself for not having wrapped the other stuff I've had for a while, because I'm still not done. I don't know how I'm still awake.
It's probably 4am before I finish. Luckily, I have teenagers, and they won't be up early. I grab a book, and settle in to sleep on the window seat, next to the Christmas tree, just so I can enjoy it a little longer.