Back when my sister and I were in college, she made a gingerbread house, and then we found an old M80 at my grandmothers house. It was a glorious way to dispose of it.
It took forever to make the gingerbread itself but we made the houses dangit. You can see very clearly the level of dedication each person put into their work. One of them was a step away from that dinosaur one above. We got to finally use the 4 to 14 year past the expiration date sprinkles I recieved from my mom. She will be so proud.
Favourite Xmas gift this year: wifey got me the House Of Marley Bluetooth speaker. It’s the size of a Pringles can and can vibrate the windows of our living room.
The wife got me a set of noise canceling headphones and they are fucking awesome. I put my music on and can't hear SHIT. Other than that, a pretty standard Christmas. I've finished all the beer in the house and have moved on to wine. Tomorrow could be interesting. Good thing I don't have to work until noon!
Happy Boxing Day. Today we celebrate the brave men and women who get punched in the face for our entertainment.
It was a meh Christmas this year. Traditionally Christmas Eve is the big event on my side of the family. But we’ve devolved from being at the same house with essentially the same people for 60 years, to a fragmentation brought on by deaths in the family, to having Christmas Eve at our house with only my mom and sister, to this year - spending an hour at the nursing home with mom, my family and the sister and her boyfriend. By 7:30 the old folks were ready to hit the bed and doze off to reruns on the Family Channel. So we had a very quiet evening that ended way too early. Christmas Day was spent at the in-laws as we’ve done for over 20 years- good food and pleasant company, but only 8 people total and kind of bland. Christmas morning was fun though, and helping my daughter put together and set up the gifts she got for her room. I would have been happy if we spent all day doing that. The highlight this year was two old friends/ mentors who reached out to me unexpectedly. Both of them helped shape me and my career over the past 40 years and it was great to hear from them again.
My big Christmas present came from the whole family before Christmas... it was a few Lee Valley gift cards that was enough for me to justify buying a really nice Festool sander (the Rotex 150). Everyone knew I was going to be futzing around in the shop before and during the holidays, so they set me up for that rather than wait until I was done. Quite nice of them. Other than that, I picked up a really nice push-button automatic coffee machine... complete with built-in milk steamer carafe, so that means lots of hot chocolate double shot espresso lungos filled with steamed milk until you can't sit still. And some bailey's, of course. The geek in me also took advantage of some Christmas sales to pick up a nice 2-channel oscilloscope for some projects I'm starting to work on. Now, best of all, I have some time off for the next couple of weeks to sit back and enjoy doing lots of "not work" stuff.
I got me some Man Stuff as well. I can’t top Lee Valley, they are the cat’s ass. But I picked up a couple lovely Milwaukee items today: a 16-piece hole saw kit and a new titianium drill index I was in dire need of. They're so pretty and shiney right now. A shame I’ll start beating them to death in a week.
Same here for some reason. I was enjoying all the build up to it, but then when Friday hit I suddenly couldn't get into it. We opted out of a Christmas party we go to because we were just too damned tired and didn't feel like being in a big crowd. Then things changed up and we went to my in-laws on the 23rd instead of the 24th for the first time in 20 years so on Christmas Eve it just felt like, well, Monday. Yesterday was fun and all, but I didn't feel like I was into it as much as usual. I have no idea why. Maybe a few inches of snow would have helped instead of all this fucking mud.
Yeah, snow would have been nice. Yesterday was spent at my sister's place, and there were 4 very loud talkers/shouters there. For hours it was like there was a contest to see who could talk the loudest over everyone about inane shit that nobody cared about. I kind of snuck off to the basement to watch some Netflix for a couple of hours for some peace and quiet. I think I'm getting old. Meanwhile my best friend back in BC sent me a pic of a sewing machine with a beer beside it, saying that he was hiding out from the family in the garage fixing the canvas top to a pop-up camper he picked up earlier... and was enjoying the solitude. (He's got many daughters, and his wife has many sisters, who also have many daughters... so his place at Christmas is very loud and girly.)
The best gift I got this year was something my wife gave to my daughter - Metallica sheet music for the oboe. Now instead of listening to her practice songs by obscure 19th century composers I’ll be serenaded by a unique version of Enter Sandman.
I had virtually this same experience this Christmas Eve at my wife’s friends’ house. Her sisters shriek like gibbons at sunrise. Why do you you have to talk as loud as humanly possibly when you’re sitting at the same dining room table? I was sitting as far from this booming babble as much as possible and it still felt like I was being crushed. And they were one-upping each story too, so you know it was real classy and sans-bullshit conversation all around. When I’m drunk in a bar I don’t even talk that loud. It seems it’s too easy to entertain somebody simply by listening to them.
I made a joke to my brother-in-law about heading out to a sports bar for some peace and quiet... he realized it wasn't really a joke.
After too much of the loud talking women at my in-laws yesterday, my father-in-law and brother-in-law grabbed me to sneak out to their garage and shoot some pool. I forget how many games we played, but at some point the drinking became more competitive than the pool. We were out there for a few hours. The women didn't even know we were missing.
Family... ah yes. My wife's aunt shows up and unless my mother in law reigns her in, tends to rush the holiday festivities. She's no sooner in the door and it's time to unwrap presents. The last paper hits the floor and she's ready to eat. And of you dont jump right in line she pesters you til youre up. Then you barely finish your last bite, maybe relax and chat a bit and she's saying it's time for dessert. Then she's ready to leave. She means well, but she's pretty pushy. My brother in law and I were discussing something work/ driving related and she shut us down, apparently that was too much from her from the other side of the room. So I just shut up and drank more before I said something I'd pay for later. So it's strange that as aggrivating as it can be, I still enjoy Christmas Eve there.
My sisters kids are cute as hell, but really undisciplined. My mom used to give me shit when I criticized it, in her endless defense of my sister saying, “well when you’re a parent then you can pass judgement.” Ok, we’ll now I’m a parent and I’m passing judgment. Theyre fun as hell at times, but at others are completely undisciplined and wild. Started a new tradition this year of having everyone in my family over the weekend before Christmas for food and a Christmas movie marathon. It was a nice way to celebrate aside from actual Christmas Day, which is always hectic. Next year I’m hosting. I’m done with the roadshows to see both our families.