7 posts tagged “christmas”

I had a wonderful Christmas Eve and a great Christmas.  On Christmas Eve I was fortunate to spend the evening with Scott and his family and participate in their holiday traditions.  Scott cooked up some of the best steak I've had in a long while, his family came over and we had a nice dinner.  After dinner we did a small gift exchange - and we were able to completely surprise him with the XPS Laptop.  That was a riot!  I won't be topping that gift for a very long time, but I'm glad he's enjoying it.  He gave me a camera for Christmas - a very, very nice camera  (Kodak V1253) that I've enjoyed immensely the last few hours.  I'm going to have alot of fun with that in the coming months.  After all the gifts were given and conversations had, we headed up to Church for the 11:00 Candlelight service.  It was well done and I had a good time.  The roads were icy on the way home, but I made it home safely and was greeted by the sight of some of the stinkiest luminaries we've ever done at the house.  My folks left them lit just for me.  It was very pretty.

Christmas at my place was a quiet affair today.  I woke up to dogs barking jealously over which one got to wear the special "antlers".  Mom made a great breakfast and we chatted until Thad rolled out of bed an hour later.  Once everyone was awake we settled under the Christmas Tree to exchange gifts.  My folks did "themed" gifts this year, as such my Brother received the LoTR map and an exact, authentic replica of a sword from a King in the movie.  It was very neat.  We gave my father a "chest" for the back of his full-size truck that he recently purchased, one of the nice diamond-plated ones, I think he really loved it.  Mom received the bird feeders from Scotty and I, and then the guys got her gorgeous gold, pearl earrings and socks for when she travels.  And as for me, apparently everyone was banking that I'd get a camera.  My folks gave me a very nice HD 7" Digital Picture Frame and a huge set of new scrapbooking supplies as well as a bit o' cash with the instructions "Do something fun with it.".  We even had snow today!  On Christmas!  I don't know who prayed for snow, it certainly wasn't me, but it was very fun to see a bit of snow make an appearance today.  All that's left for my day is Christmas "dinner" late this afternoon and a nap.

I had a great evening with Dave and Stacy tonight!  I picked up a pizza on the way down, Dave was nice enough to actually bake it (me and cooking... erms heating are unmixy things!), and there was good drinks all around.  We spent a good portion of the night just chatting, and it was great to be able to vent and have someone know exactly what I was talking about and rather than judging or finding the answer, just listen for a bit.  And it was fun to "geek it out" a bit too.  We watched Elf, which was cute in a funny, sarcastic type of way, could have actually qualified as a family film, who knew?  Eventually Stacy called Isaac and the drinks and chatting continued.  Stacy of course, whooped me in two out of three games of monopoly, granted, it wasn't the same as the real version but for just the two of us it was a great time!  It was wonderful to get a chance to catch-up, say hi, and just relax.  Thanks ya'll!

The Cookie n' Ornament Exchange Party that I went to tonight with the Canby Girls, turned out to be a fun evening!  It was great to have a chance to catch up with Sarah and Angie, neither of whom I've had a chance to catch up with recently.  I had the honor of meeting Margaret, briefly caught up with Meredith, and met others who just needed a girls night out.  We shared stories and chitchat over wine and appetizers.  To my utter surprise, when the whole cookie thing came about, and we taste tested everything and chose our top three favorites, my poor little caramel chocolate thumb-prints won first place!  How weird is that?  I'm glad the girls enjoyed them, I really did try hard with the whole shindig, even discovered that I actually enjoy making cookies to some degree and will do it again sometime.  We got back into Canby around 10:45 and I pulled into the driveway at home at quarter after eleven, so it ended up being a late night.  However, I'm glad I went, and had a good time.  However, now it is time to crash, I've got to be in town early for a couple of reasons and will have a long day tomorrow!  Holidays are too busy for words!

I made cookies!

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Apparently it's the season to be cheerful, I missed the memo, but here's the meme anyways.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Unless something has a really odd shape, wrapping paper.  Occasionally gift bags, but very rarely, especially for Christmas.

2. Real tree or artificial?
Depends.  I love real trees but sometimes artificial works better.  We've done both, it depends on the year and what else is going on.  Personally if I had my own place I'd get a small real one.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Here it's in the main room in front of the television by the back windows.  On my own, I'd like to put it where you could see it from the street.  Maybe next year.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Usually after the new year, although sometimes the live trees don't last that long and come down almost immediately following Christmas.  It seems to depend on when we get the live ones and what else is going on at the time.

5. Do you like eggnog?
Not really, no.  I can do a little bit and be okay, but it's not something I particularly enjoy.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Easily it was the year that we spent Christmas in Disney in Florida.  We saw Sandi Patti live and I woke up Christmas morning to a stuffed Eeyore.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes, I have a complete Precious Moments set that my Mother bought for me over a couple of years when I was in High School.  Some of it is on display in the lit china cabinet downstairs.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
Changes from year to year, this year Whitney is the hardest to buy for.  I just don't know what she really wants, or what I could do that would be appreciated.  Still trying to figure that one out.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
Scotty.  But I've been working on that one for ages.  I knew exactly what I wanted to get, just had to work the pieces so they'd all fit correctly in the end. 

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received?
I don't think any Christmas gift is really horrible, unless it's given out of something other than love.  I treasure most gifts that I receive from people as it usually means alot to me that they even thought about me, and more so that they took the time to do something personalized for me. 

11. Mail or email Christmas card?
I very rarely get real cards for Christmas, mostly emails... and both are okay.  It's the thought that matters most, not the medium.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
I love some of the original Christmas movies, I'd really like to see the Charlie Brown Christmas this year and maybe the Disney one with Mickey and the Father Christmas storyline, the title of which I can't remember for the life of me.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I started plotting, planning, and laying fieldwork way back in September or early October, but as far as actual shopping, most of that started in earnest around Thanksgiving this year. I still have lots to do.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don't think so, no.  I've been unlucky enough to give the same gift that someone had thought to give me, that's kind of weird.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Hershey Kiss Cookies - the ones that are sugar cookies rolled in granulated sugar and baked and then when they're still warm you stick an unwrapped chocolate kiss in the middle.  Those are the best.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
If it was just me I'd probably go for the coloured lights.  The home tree is classic white lights through.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
I love the Hallelujah Chorus in it's entirety.  If it's just something I'm going to be humming all day, White Christmas is always a classic.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Usually I prefer to stay at home, although some years I've traveled to warmer places.  I'll follow my heart at Christmas and see where it leads me.

19. Can you name Santa's reindeer?
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid and Donder and Blitzen.
But do you recall,
The most famous reindeer of all?
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer...

20. Do you have an Angel on top or a star?
Both actually.  The current tree topper is a Star with an angel over the nativity scene.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
People who use the holidays as an excuse to bring out their worst attitude whether it's shopping or driving or just existing, some people seem to think that because it's the holiday's they have a "get outta jail free" card for crude behavior.

Totally a great geek gift.  My sister got me one for Christmas.  Have yet to actually do anything with it, instead it has joined the lightsaber spoons hidden away in a desk drawer.  Still was a great gift idea. :D

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