Merry Christmas everybody! My friend posted a short little cover of Jingle Bells on facebook, and I told him I would post it here and pass on any feedback it gets. Enjoy!
Christmas Eve: - Lots of good beer - Crab legs for days - Monster roast with potatoes Presents included: - 1 green & 1 black cotton T-shirt - An old crock-pot - A variety pack of mashed potato mix - 2 bar-stools
One of the coolest gifts I got this year was a DVD with all of the old super 8 (film) family videos. This is from when I was 4 and 5 years old. Crazy.
Merry Christmas fellow degenerates! I got hooked the fuck up this year. Nice fossil watch. A very warm coat. MTG cards! Yeah I'm a nerd, but I ask for magic cards every year, and finally I got some. It's almost as if my father heard me with his ears for once! Two awesome hoodies. And a NEW PHONE. No more cell phone envy for me anymore! Happy holidays guys. Try to enjoy your Newyears.
Had a pretty solid christmas with the family and everything. Grandma was in the hospital so we had to do a visit there but it was good besides that. As for the haul: 500 bucks, 1.5Tb external hard drive, some gift cards, some clothes from Buffalo, and some Seven Jeans. Cant complain about that at all.
Christmas for me typically means being in a small-ish space w/ my parents and brother for 4-5 days. This is all well and good, except for the fact I have to go out of my way to eat healthy and find things to do (hence, being on Facebook, Twitter, TiB, etc). It also means hanging around a ton of old people my folks think I should get along with, as they live in a retirement community. It makes me want a drink badly. My haul was pretty good, albeit incredibly nerd-oriented: - Lost Seasons 3 and 4 on Blu Ray, Season 5 on DVD (really bro? Can't read "blu ray"?) - Bioshock and Uncharted for PS3 - North Face slippers, which are awesome - Several programming books Maybe I'm insensitive, but I went to Amazon about an hour after opening presents and ordered about $150 worth of stuff I listed but didn't get. This year I truly enjoyed giving everyone what they wanted more than getting the things on my list. All things considered, I love my family, but I miss my apartment, bed, toys, dog and gym. Monday can't come soon enough.
I was quite happy with Christmas this year (except for a busted tooth and a mild case of pneumonia). I gave my folks a kick-ass, push-one-button espresso machine. They were originally not happy with the lack of their shitty coffee machine and pre-ground Tim Horton's coffee, but after a solid day of playing with it, they are sold. When Mom got up this morning, and had a freshly ground and brewed cup of coffee within a minute, she looked at me and said, "this is fucking awesome!". Mom NEVER swears. I guess I did all right with that one. And what the hell is it with my Dad and the weather? He's been recuperating from open-heart surgery for 3 weeks now, doing quite well, but is bored out of his tree. He's moved his laptop into the kitchen, and is now constantly surfing the net for weather. He's found live Doppler radar, weather feeds, etc., and is constantly calling me over to show me the 5 day forecast for someplace thousands of miles away. So, I got him a remote weather station for Christmas. Set up the remote sensor on the deck, and he's got a battery operated, wireless weather display that sits on the table, etc., and he can see exactly what's going on in the back yard; temperature trends, barometric forecasts, weather alarms, etc. He's happier than a pig in shit. And for my bitchy sister, I got her a $500 gift certificate for Home Depot. Her and the new hubby are renovating their house, and need all the shit they can get to help out. She was originally a little pissy about me giving her a gift card, but when I told her the amount, her eyes bugged out, and she began to feel a little sheepish about the $40 Chapters gift card she got me. (Ironic, no?) Still, I'm happy that I'm in a position to be able to give more than I get, and I've found that Christmas has become more about the giving than the getting. Mind you, the night-vision monocular that my folks got me was still fucking cool. Oh well, time for another Bailey's Mocha.
In-laws just left so it's officially over. 6.5 hours til my mother returns, and with her around, everyday is like Christmas Day. Did I mention how much I loathe the holidays?
All I can say it thank god it's over. The first family members arrived on Wednesday night and the last family friend's just left. I have the house to myself once again and it's lovely. I'm tempted to go adopt a bunch of children from third world countries just so I can say I don't have any room for out of town guests. The gifts were surprisingly good this year. My friends and family actually put some thought into them (for once). Highlights include: - My friends all chipped in and got me a 8 hours of dyno tuning for my vehicles - Outdoor speakers for the pool patio from the parents - Krypton ski boots from my uncle - Red Sox cornhole boards from my sister The bad: - My cigar humidor table got a bottle of coke spilled all over it. Probably need to refinish the wood. - I have 3 guest bedrooms to clean, a great room carpet that needs to be cleaned and all my floors need to be mopped. Professional cleaning crew is being called in tomorrow. - My little cousins had a 2-day Airsoft war. I will be finding these fucking plastic pellets for the next 10 years. I love my family, don't mind having the holiday gathering at my place, and generally like entertaining at my place but 5 days of being on-duty is too much. I'm glad I could help some of my family save money by letting them stay with me but I'm limiting the numbers next year and most likely excluding small children. It's just too much.
I had a good haul this year. I got some whiskey, as usual, and some candy and little trinkets. However I realized that I was getting old when I asked for a new pair of shoes and electric tooth brush. I also got a cover for my kindle that makes it look like an address book so I can leave it out on my desk at work. Cash wise I did pretty well, 1200 bucks, and I have so much damn money in gift certificates that I am selling, which is great as I am going to Vegas for New Years. I figure take 200 for gambling, and if my usual blackjack streak continues. I also got 150 bucks in Omaha Steaks. My mom however really missed on most things. She got me a Pasta Maker, pasta bowls, and a book on Pasta. She knows that I don't eat pasta cause that shit is really unhealthy. However she got Mario Cart for the Wii. That has already seen 6-7 hours of play over the weekend.
I received a latte/mocha maker and a bottle of 10-year old tawny port. It is common for my daily intake of liquids to consist solely of beverages that are either caffeinated or alcoholic (sometimes both), so these gifts were quite appropriate.