This year’s haul was an odd one, for several reasons.
Absolutely nothing required assembly or sneaking around, so for the first time in nearly three decades I didn’t have to stay up late on Christmas Eve (although I did anyway).
Most everyone in the family knew what they were getting, with a few surprises.
There weren’t quite enough surprises, as the Bon Jovi-related merchandise I got for Teres from her list of stuff still to get turned out to be the same stuff she had in fact already ordered for herself. Fortunately I also found her one of the “Have a Nice Day” smirk necklaces. The hard case we got for James turned out to be too small for his bass despite our careful measuring. Still, everyone seemed pleased.
I received:
– A safety razor, holder, blades, beaver hair brush and soap dish (all of which I had asked for, as I plan to start wet shaving with a safety razor to save money and, one hopes, get a better shave).
– “Vanilla Ride” by Joe R. Lansdale (the latest in his Hap and Leonard series, from my housemate, marking the 1st time in many years someone has managed to surprise me with a book I didn’t know existed but would immediately have bought myself if I had).
– A carved walking stick (from Teres, so I’d have something unexpected, which it was).
The Incredible Hulk TV series Ultimate Collection (from my son James, who decided my DVD shelf wasn’t cheesy enough).- A signed autograph of Walter Cronkite (from my son Tony, because he knew I didn’t have one and the likelihood of me getting one seemed bleak).
– Money (from mom, who knows what I like) (Also she gave me fudge)
– The Regular Expressions Cookbook (an unexpected gift from my friend Shmuel, who has answered several panicky instant-messaged regular expressions questions from me in the past and apparently decided to head the next one off) (not pictured; it’s at my work desk already).
And some of the money that would have gone into prezzies for me instead was diverted towards the Guilt Camera Teresa bought me (not pictured, cuz it was busy picturing).
All in all, a good haul and a great Christmas. My son Tony was here with his girlfriend Laura, my bro-in-law Rodger came over, and we opened prezzies, went to see “Sherlock Holmes” (quick review: not a great movie or a real cinematic gamechanger, but an awful lot of fun to watch if you can get past the idea of Holmes having any sort of romance) and came back to play “ImagineIf” for hours with lots of uproarious laughing and good natured personal abuse.
Hope yours went as well. Happy holidays, folks.
I see you got some great gifts, thanks for telling me there’s a new Hap and Leonard book, I’ll have to get it to complete my collection. If you feel like looking up how to get the best shave with your new shaving kit then click the link now.