Countdown to Christmas: 1 day

Today's Christmas photo

The classic floating head pic.

Today's Christmas memory

When I was in first grade, my teacher Mrs. Gribble gave all of us a 'Good Choice Coupon' for Christmas.

Good Choice Coupons were usually something you earned sporadically for displaying extra good behaviour in the classroom. But as a Christmas gift, Mrs. Gribble gave one to each of her students for free! Then came the real kicker. She told us, "If you save your Good Choice Coupon until next Christmas—exactly one year from now—you will get to ride on Santa's sleigh."

Hanging on to that tiny square of construction paper wasn't easy. The whole appeal of a Good Choice Coupon was getting to trade it in for candy or some other treat. But I resisted. That was my ticket to the big man himself. The King of Christmas. The Prince of Presents. The Earl of Yule. The one and only, Santa Claus.

The sleigh ride voucher burned a whole in my pencil box for an entire year. I'd peek inside and see it resting—waiting—among my coloured pencils, erasers and speckled sheets of ring hole reinforcers.

I ended up being in Mrs. Gribble's class for second grade too. Bet she didn't see that one coming! A couple weeks before Christmas I received a letter in my cubby. I still have the letter, but it's tucked away in some half-finished scrapbook in Kenmore at the moment. Anyway, it went something like this:

Dear Margaret, 

I hear that you still have your Good Choice Coupon from last Christmas! Unfortunately, I won't be able to get you a ride on Santa's sleigh this year. But instead, you can choose from the following:

• You and a friend join me and Mr. Gribble for a trip to the movie theatre to see 'Miracle on 34th Street'.

• You and a friend come over to my house for Christmas cookies and to watch a Christmas film.

• Choice #3 that I don't remember.

• Choice #4 that I don't remember.

• Choice #5 that I don't remember.

Love, 
Mrs. Gribble

P.S. Do you know if any other kids still have their Good Choice Coupon?

Needless to say, I chose the second option. I've always been nosy, and the chance to go inside my favourite teacher's house and see her in her natural habitat was beyond exciting. BEYOND. I wrote back that I'd like to choose Option #2 and to take my friend Keelyn. I also reassured her that I was the only kid that had held on to her coupon for the whole year.

The big day came and my mom drove us to her house. It was so much fun, and I don't remember being nervous at all, even though it was such a huge deal.

Today's Christmas gift idea

What!? It's Christmas Eve and you still don't have a gift! OK, don't panic. Here's what you do. Take a tin of beans from the pantry and peel off the label. Glue some printer paper around the can and decorate it with coloured marker, glitter, stickers or whatever else you can find (Bandaids, if you're desperate). Voilà! You have a homemade pencil holder.

Feliz natal,

Margaret

P.S. Bonus video!