Christmas Stocking!

My very own Christmas stocking!

From Elli's Dad Santa

=) BIG right?

Filled to the brim with goodies…

We'll talk about the orange

(and the nut and the one-pound coin, if you noticed them in the first place)

in a little bit...

Presents unwrapped!

Inventory of stocking:

1. Orange
2. One-pound coin
3. Nut
4. Rose-scented candle
5. Pen
6. Gloves
7. Magnet
8. Ball
9. Puzzle
10. Bubble magic

Now to explain the orange, coin and nut.

I'm told that it's...

TRADITION!

Interesting, ain't it?

Decided to find out a bit more from the Internet...

(ah, the wealth of information - sometimes useful and most times rubbish - at our fingertips)

According to Wikipedia, one tradition is to fill the stocking with 5 gifts that stimulate the 5 senses. They give examples such as:

1. Something to eat like fruit or candy
2. A toy or other item that makes a noise (this can even include nuts to crack)
3. An item that is visually pleasing in any way like jewelry, cuff-links or a coloring book
4. Something that has tactile appeal such as modeling clay, a soft toy, lingerie or even a pair of novelty christmas socks!
5. Any item with a distinctive scent such as bubble-bath, cologne, perfume etc

So although I was told that only the orange (1), nut(2) and coin(3) were tradition, upon a re-analysis of the items I received in the stocking, I realised that I had an item that was (4)tactile - gloves, and (5)scented - candle as well!

Whether it was deliberate or coincidental, I don't know... I'll have to ask again...

Along with information on the tradition of stocking fillers, I also found a story that tells the tradition of the Christmas stocking...

Once there was a father with three beautiful daughters.
Although the daughters were kind and strong,
the father despaired of them making good marriages,
because he didn't have enough money to pay their dowries.

One day, St. Nicholas of Myra was passing through their village
and heard the locals discussing the plight of these poor girls.
St. Nicholas knew the father would be too proud to accept an outright gift.
So, he waited til dark, snuck to the man's house,
and dropped three bags of gold coins down the chimney.

The daughters had spent their evening washing clothes,
and had hung their stockings by the fireplace to dry.
The gold coins dropped into the stockings, one bag for each daughter.
In the morning, they awoke to find enough money to make them each
a generous dowry, and all married well and happily.

As word of St. Nicholas' generosity spread,
others began to hang their stockings by the fireplace,
hoping for a similar gift.

So that's about the Christmas stockings...

I've got very nice Christmas presents too!

Thank you to everyone who gave me presents and cards =) =)

And thanks in advance to those whose presents I have not received...

...because they are still waiting to be posted.

It's a competition to see which of the 2 boxes arrive first.

Yeah, there are 2 boxes.

So if you're one of those sending the boxes, you know you are not alone.

There are other people who are equally bad procrastinators *grinz*

*This entry is super educational...