(no subject)
Love Christmas Eve so damned much. So, the family has just left. All my aunts and uncles were over, so I have all my best gifts right now. And I'm full of Christmas cheer.
So, we had Christmas dinner. Schnitzels, complete with the green pepper and mushroom gravy. I swear I ate too much, even though I didn't finish my plate. I wish Frank had been there, when everyone else was tapped out he would have been going still. My aunt Claire actually panicked a little when she first came in. She saw me and she was like "I forgot about Frank, is he here?" I assured her he wasn't. XD Though maybe this means I can steal him next year. >.> Just have to give warning. I dunno. Anyways, before I start whining about missing my boyfriend when he's been away for like, 4 days, and offline for two, let me go back to how Christmas Eve went.
So, after dinner, we had this dessert of a key lime meringue pie and a Pavola, which is this meringue pie crust with whip cream and strawberries and kiwi on top. So amazing. Then, after much coercing, I got Rob and Mandy and Shawna to come into the basement with me so we could watch the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Took some effort, since Mandi and Rob just lay down on the couch and didn't want to get up. Course, by the time I got the VCR down there working, everyone else had come down too. So we sat around and watched the Grinch. Which is greatly improved by this line.
Anyways, of course when the movie finished and my sister and I ran upstairs, Santa had come and all the presents were under the tree. Do I believe that my aunts and uncles had plenty of time to clear away the dishes and move the gifts from the car to the tree before they came downstairs to see the Grinch? Of course. But it was still totally Santa. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
So, we all sat around and opened gifts. The gifts I got:
Shawna: Got me The Good, the Bad and the Munchkin, making this my first Munchkin game that I own. Also, Neverwhere, the graphic novel, and a Sims 2 expansion pack that she bought awhile ago with me, then realized 20 minutes later she bought the PC version and she has a Mac.
Parents: Digital Camera, which is totally awesome because I needed one. Shawna got one too. Also, for me, Shawna, my mom and my aunt Trudi, we got Spice Girl tickets. =D I'm totally 15 at heart. Also, 8, because I still squeal like a little girl when I see the tree with gifts.
Trudi: Two awesome shirts. One is silk, with a purple pattern on it and these wing sleeves, and ties up in the back. The other is black, long sleeved, with a white collar and puffy shoulders. I'll take pictures of these... Later.
Oma: Two DS games, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Brain Age 2. They were on my wishlist, so I'm glad I got them. I would have bought them myself otherwise. Plus, a 2 GB USB drive, which I really needed because mine is currently 128 MB. So awesome.
Joey and Mandy: Two more awesome shirts. One is silk, ties up in the back, and has the same kind of pattern as the purple one, only in blue and beige instead of purple and grey. Plus, it's long, almost dress length. The other is this deep green colour, and a sweater, with these huge baggy sleeves. It's incredibly thin and soft, and hangs so nicely. Unfortunately, it was a little too big, so Mandi is gonna check if there's a small available. I hope there is, but I kinda like it this way too. Also, they got me a nerf gun, presumably to make up for last year when I got Joey and Rob a nerf gun.
Rob and Claire: A calendar full of "Wayward Fairies", such as the "Bad Hair Day Fairy" or the "Bad Apple Fairy." It's beautifully drawn, and I need one too. It was labelled for "Alex OR Shawna", but Shawna got a Nightmare Before Christmas keychain in the similarly labelled package, so we knew we were sticking with what we got. Also, I got $200 from them. XD I think, other than the $4000 they gave me a few years ago for tuition, this is the first time I've actually gotten money for Christmas. Claire was trying to get a pre-paid credit card that was advertised as a kind of all-purpose gift card, but it turned out to need stuff like our SIN numbers and such. So she just put the money in an envelope instead. My best bet is it's going to computer parts. =D
Course... As awesome as the gifts are, the giving is totally where it's at. Shawna and I teamed up for gifts, as normal. We actually have a bit of a reputation for being good at it, though I have no idea why. XD This year, we went a little insane price wise. Everyone did, actually. There were two digital cameras, 4 Spice Girl tickets, two Swarovski crystals (Tigger and the Zodaic Pig), an iPod, a home entertainment centre, a DS, two duvets (both to the same person), a printer/scanner... Just a bit high on the budget side, but it's Christmas. Anyways, my sister and I splurged a little. Everyone ended up getting two gifts, if not 3, with one being smaller than the other. We also had a lot of wrapping paper (long story, quite pathetic). So we decided, when wrapping, that no two gifts would be the same paper. Also, the gifts would have two papers that compliment each other. The tag would be in the complimentary one, and the smallest gift was wrapped in a ribbon that matched the colour of a flavoured candy cane we attached. Course, we promptly forgot the flavour of the candy canes leaving the store, and they weren't labelled. So it was a random guess for most. Either way, our gifts looked awesome and in the end, there were enough candy canes for our gifts to each other. So, onto the gifts:
Shawna: Two Expansion packs for Munchkin, Clown Wars (for Star Munchkin) and Clerical Error (for normal Munchkin). I also added a pack of DnD dice, that were clear but filled with glitter. I don't think she realized how awesomely glittery they were til I told her to check them in the light. Though there was apparently only one d6 in the pack, which annoys me a bit. She hasn't actually played DnD yet, but she still loved the whole thing.
Paper: Red with Santa for the Dice, Silver with red accents and Snowmen for Clerical Error, Silver/grey pattern for Clown Wars. Wide red ribbon.
Candy Cane: No idea. Thought it was Bubblegum, but that turned out to be Mandy's (Who we thought we gave Tutti Frutti). It was pink, with blue stripes.
Mom: A red and black silk shirt which tied up in the back. Actually a similar style and pattern to the ones I got. Also, Season 1 of "Dead Like Me". I meant to give her Season 2 also, but we gave that to Dad at the last minute. Both Shawna and I thought we'd screwed up horribly on our parents last year (Got my mom a stuffed cat from "The Aristocats", which is her favourite Disney movie and my Dad the "V for Vendetta" graphic novel, before he'd seen the movies.) so we wanted to make sure we got them something good this year. I think they'll love Dead Like Me, and I know she liked the shirt, which hopefully fits.
Paper: A silver pattern on the shirt, and a pale blue on the DVDs. Green ribbon
Candy Cane: Sour Apple.
Dad: As said already, "Dead Like Me" Season 2. I got a good deal on getting them both together. Also, we got him a key-chain sized nerf gun Because I got Rob and Joey a nerf gun last year and felt like I should have gotten Dad one too. The real gift was last package though, which was "The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes" collection. He has all the other collections but that one, though I'm sure he's read it anyways. You can never get bored of Calvin and Hobbes though. He promptly stuck his nose in it and claimed he was gonna go off and read it.
Paper: Blue with green Christmas trees on the DVDs and red ribbon. Solid green on the other two. Lime green bandage on the nerf gun, where the paper ripped from awkward packaging.
Candy Cane: We think it was Strawberry.
Trudi: Because my parents bought he a DS, our gift was pretty simple. Find a game she'd like. We settled on Rune Factory. Last year, we got her Harvest Moon for the Gamecube, and she loved it so much she bought the other two games of it. But we didn't want to get her Harvest Moon for the DS since she already had 3 copies of the game. So Rune Factory is a fantasy Harvest Moon. You still grow crops, but you also fight monsters. I think there's more plot too. I'm really hoping it turns out to be good, I kinda wanted to pick it up myself. It also has a wifi connection, if I do get it we can trade between us. Also considered Animal Crossing, but apparently she didn't like Wind Waker much so we hesitated to get Phantom Hourglass. We also got her some cute earrings. They're black wire hearts, with multi-coloured gems.
Paper: Silver and red snowmen on top (Doesn't count as double, the other was on Shawna and we didn't care between ourselves), Red with candy canes on the game. Red ribbon.
Candy Cane: Cherry Cola
Oma: A necklace. It had yellow gems and roses on it, with little green leaves. Also, a bath bomb. When you put it in a bath, it fizzes up and bubbles. It dyes the water (purple, in this case), scents it (lavender), and makes it moisturizing. In some cases, it even has things that float on the water, like flower petals or glitter. This one was called "Waving, Not Drowning", and is supposed to be very relaxing.
Paper: Beige with red baubles on the necklace, red with Santa's on the bomb. Blue ribbon.
Candy Cane: Blueberry
Joey: My parents had bought him "Big Shiny Tunes 9" or whatever the recent one is, and said we could give him it. We bought him a small lego set with a castle and dueling knights to go with it.
Paper: Blue and green pattern on the CD. I carefully taped down every single edge on the paper. He had to rip the untaped side instead. Blue with... Snowmen? On the bottom. Shawna covered every inch of the package neatly with packing tape, and we just told ourselves it was "Shiny Paper". He managed to find a slight edge between two pieces of packing tape and ripped it open there, but it hurt his fingers to do it. He acknowledged it was well wrapped. We only do this to him, since he does it to ours and then laughs maniacally, almost every year (Mandy wrapped this year). Red ribbon.
Candy Cane: Cherry Cola.
Mandi: We were at a lose as to what to get her, and she was the last on the list, so we asked Mom for ideas. Thankfully, she had a list of ideas, one of which was fluffy pyjamas. I had spent the whole shopping trip saying we should get someone PJs. Actually, I said we should get Mom and Trudi matching PJs. Either way, easy decision. We found some cute flannel ones that were pale blue with penguins. Then we added a bath bomb. This one was called Butterfly. Floral scented, dyed the water pink and had bits of flowers and paper butterflies in it. Supposed to wake you up. Someone else got her slippers. I see the making of a great personal day ahead.
Paper: Solid gold on the bathbomb. Gold with Santa prints on the PJs. I think the ribbon was gold too.
Candy Cane: Bubble gum, supposedly, but I think it was Tutti Fruitti. It was clear, with yellow, pink and blue stripes.
Rob: My parents bought Transformers for him, but are under a "no gifts" policy. As such, it went under our name. We also saw it with him over the summer, and adored the movie. We also bought him "Hedge Knight" the graphic novel by George R. R. Martin. He absolutely loves Game of Thrones, it's his favourite series and he rants about it. He's the reason I picked it up. So when I saw Hedge Knight, I knew he needed it. As I suspected, the name of the author sold him on it.
Paper: I believe they were silver and/or blue. One was silver with blue and white snowflakes. Black ribbon.
Candy Cane: Root Beer
Claire: Again, my mom bought her a puzzle and let us give it to her. Turns out this was a huge success. I almost felt guilty, she was like "Oh wow! How did you know!?" and my mom was just like "Oh, you always do them at the cottage, guess they just picked it up." Awesome gift on my mom's part though. Since she didn't tell us about til after we finished shopping though, Shawna and I also picked up some body butter from the Body Shop, scented like Vanilla Spice. I loved the smell. Shawna loved the smell. Claire loves the body butters from the Body Shop. We also bought her a bath bomb. Actually, she's the initial reason we went into Lush looking for something else, and came out with 3 bath bombs. We decided to split them up afterwards. Her's is Jingly Spell. It's supposed to be really great for hangovers, but was also relaxing when we asked the clerk about it. It's purple, and I think smells a bit minty... Don't quite remember the scent. It has silver stars on it too, to float in the bath.
Paper: Silver on the puzzle and bath bomb. Silver with penguins on the body butter. Gold ribbon.
Candy Cane: Bahi Mami? Hati Mahi? Something like that. It was yellow and red striped.
I think my biggest disappointment this year was not buying a bath bomb for Mom and Trudi. XD They would probably like one too. In Trudi's case, we'd already bought the earring as a smaller gift before we got to Lush and got bath bombs, and it was already on the expensive side, since it was both a game and earrings. On Mom's side, a bit of the same, already had bought the shirt to go with the DVDs. Also, we just didn't think to split them up and not give all three to Claire until we'd already paid and left the store. I'll probably go back boxing week and see if they have a sale anyways. If they do, that'll be what I get. And one for me. Shawna already got herself one. I'm sure I can use it before I go back to Guelph.
All in all though, a completely awesome year. I don't think anyone was disappointed. Possibly Joey, with the Lego, but he still thought it was really cool, and the wrapping job was just hilarious. Short of things not fitting, and Rune Factory turning out to be awful (Though I was surprised last year how much Trudi liked Harvest Moon), I think I can hand out gold stars all around, both for giving and receiving. Now I just need to survive tomorrow, when we see the other side of the family...
So, we had Christmas dinner. Schnitzels, complete with the green pepper and mushroom gravy. I swear I ate too much, even though I didn't finish my plate. I wish Frank had been there, when everyone else was tapped out he would have been going still. My aunt Claire actually panicked a little when she first came in. She saw me and she was like "I forgot about Frank, is he here?" I assured her he wasn't. XD Though maybe this means I can steal him next year. >.> Just have to give warning. I dunno. Anyways, before I start whining about missing my boyfriend when he's been away for like, 4 days, and offline for two, let me go back to how Christmas Eve went.
So, after dinner, we had this dessert of a key lime meringue pie and a Pavola, which is this meringue pie crust with whip cream and strawberries and kiwi on top. So amazing. Then, after much coercing, I got Rob and Mandy and Shawna to come into the basement with me so we could watch the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Took some effort, since Mandi and Rob just lay down on the couch and didn't want to get up. Course, by the time I got the VCR down there working, everyone else had come down too. So we sat around and watched the Grinch. Which is greatly improved by this line.
Anyways, of course when the movie finished and my sister and I ran upstairs, Santa had come and all the presents were under the tree. Do I believe that my aunts and uncles had plenty of time to clear away the dishes and move the gifts from the car to the tree before they came downstairs to see the Grinch? Of course. But it was still totally Santa. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
So, we all sat around and opened gifts. The gifts I got:
Shawna: Got me The Good, the Bad and the Munchkin, making this my first Munchkin game that I own. Also, Neverwhere, the graphic novel, and a Sims 2 expansion pack that she bought awhile ago with me, then realized 20 minutes later she bought the PC version and she has a Mac.
Parents: Digital Camera, which is totally awesome because I needed one. Shawna got one too. Also, for me, Shawna, my mom and my aunt Trudi, we got Spice Girl tickets. =D I'm totally 15 at heart. Also, 8, because I still squeal like a little girl when I see the tree with gifts.
Trudi: Two awesome shirts. One is silk, with a purple pattern on it and these wing sleeves, and ties up in the back. The other is black, long sleeved, with a white collar and puffy shoulders. I'll take pictures of these... Later.
Oma: Two DS games, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Brain Age 2. They were on my wishlist, so I'm glad I got them. I would have bought them myself otherwise. Plus, a 2 GB USB drive, which I really needed because mine is currently 128 MB. So awesome.
Joey and Mandy: Two more awesome shirts. One is silk, ties up in the back, and has the same kind of pattern as the purple one, only in blue and beige instead of purple and grey. Plus, it's long, almost dress length. The other is this deep green colour, and a sweater, with these huge baggy sleeves. It's incredibly thin and soft, and hangs so nicely. Unfortunately, it was a little too big, so Mandi is gonna check if there's a small available. I hope there is, but I kinda like it this way too. Also, they got me a nerf gun, presumably to make up for last year when I got Joey and Rob a nerf gun.
Rob and Claire: A calendar full of "Wayward Fairies", such as the "Bad Hair Day Fairy" or the "Bad Apple Fairy." It's beautifully drawn, and I need one too. It was labelled for "Alex OR Shawna", but Shawna got a Nightmare Before Christmas keychain in the similarly labelled package, so we knew we were sticking with what we got. Also, I got $200 from them. XD I think, other than the $4000 they gave me a few years ago for tuition, this is the first time I've actually gotten money for Christmas. Claire was trying to get a pre-paid credit card that was advertised as a kind of all-purpose gift card, but it turned out to need stuff like our SIN numbers and such. So she just put the money in an envelope instead. My best bet is it's going to computer parts. =D
Course... As awesome as the gifts are, the giving is totally where it's at. Shawna and I teamed up for gifts, as normal. We actually have a bit of a reputation for being good at it, though I have no idea why. XD This year, we went a little insane price wise. Everyone did, actually. There were two digital cameras, 4 Spice Girl tickets, two Swarovski crystals (Tigger and the Zodaic Pig), an iPod, a home entertainment centre, a DS, two duvets (both to the same person), a printer/scanner... Just a bit high on the budget side, but it's Christmas. Anyways, my sister and I splurged a little. Everyone ended up getting two gifts, if not 3, with one being smaller than the other. We also had a lot of wrapping paper (long story, quite pathetic). So we decided, when wrapping, that no two gifts would be the same paper. Also, the gifts would have two papers that compliment each other. The tag would be in the complimentary one, and the smallest gift was wrapped in a ribbon that matched the colour of a flavoured candy cane we attached. Course, we promptly forgot the flavour of the candy canes leaving the store, and they weren't labelled. So it was a random guess for most. Either way, our gifts looked awesome and in the end, there were enough candy canes for our gifts to each other. So, onto the gifts:
Shawna: Two Expansion packs for Munchkin, Clown Wars (for Star Munchkin) and Clerical Error (for normal Munchkin). I also added a pack of DnD dice, that were clear but filled with glitter. I don't think she realized how awesomely glittery they were til I told her to check them in the light. Though there was apparently only one d6 in the pack, which annoys me a bit. She hasn't actually played DnD yet, but she still loved the whole thing.
Paper: Red with Santa for the Dice, Silver with red accents and Snowmen for Clerical Error, Silver/grey pattern for Clown Wars. Wide red ribbon.
Candy Cane: No idea. Thought it was Bubblegum, but that turned out to be Mandy's (Who we thought we gave Tutti Frutti). It was pink, with blue stripes.
Mom: A red and black silk shirt which tied up in the back. Actually a similar style and pattern to the ones I got. Also, Season 1 of "Dead Like Me". I meant to give her Season 2 also, but we gave that to Dad at the last minute. Both Shawna and I thought we'd screwed up horribly on our parents last year (Got my mom a stuffed cat from "The Aristocats", which is her favourite Disney movie and my Dad the "V for Vendetta" graphic novel, before he'd seen the movies.) so we wanted to make sure we got them something good this year. I think they'll love Dead Like Me, and I know she liked the shirt, which hopefully fits.
Paper: A silver pattern on the shirt, and a pale blue on the DVDs. Green ribbon
Candy Cane: Sour Apple.
Dad: As said already, "Dead Like Me" Season 2. I got a good deal on getting them both together. Also, we got him a key-chain sized nerf gun Because I got Rob and Joey a nerf gun last year and felt like I should have gotten Dad one too. The real gift was last package though, which was "The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes" collection. He has all the other collections but that one, though I'm sure he's read it anyways. You can never get bored of Calvin and Hobbes though. He promptly stuck his nose in it and claimed he was gonna go off and read it.
Paper: Blue with green Christmas trees on the DVDs and red ribbon. Solid green on the other two. Lime green bandage on the nerf gun, where the paper ripped from awkward packaging.
Candy Cane: We think it was Strawberry.
Trudi: Because my parents bought he a DS, our gift was pretty simple. Find a game she'd like. We settled on Rune Factory. Last year, we got her Harvest Moon for the Gamecube, and she loved it so much she bought the other two games of it. But we didn't want to get her Harvest Moon for the DS since she already had 3 copies of the game. So Rune Factory is a fantasy Harvest Moon. You still grow crops, but you also fight monsters. I think there's more plot too. I'm really hoping it turns out to be good, I kinda wanted to pick it up myself. It also has a wifi connection, if I do get it we can trade between us. Also considered Animal Crossing, but apparently she didn't like Wind Waker much so we hesitated to get Phantom Hourglass. We also got her some cute earrings. They're black wire hearts, with multi-coloured gems.
Paper: Silver and red snowmen on top (Doesn't count as double, the other was on Shawna and we didn't care between ourselves), Red with candy canes on the game. Red ribbon.
Candy Cane: Cherry Cola
Oma: A necklace. It had yellow gems and roses on it, with little green leaves. Also, a bath bomb. When you put it in a bath, it fizzes up and bubbles. It dyes the water (purple, in this case), scents it (lavender), and makes it moisturizing. In some cases, it even has things that float on the water, like flower petals or glitter. This one was called "Waving, Not Drowning", and is supposed to be very relaxing.
Paper: Beige with red baubles on the necklace, red with Santa's on the bomb. Blue ribbon.
Candy Cane: Blueberry
Joey: My parents had bought him "Big Shiny Tunes 9" or whatever the recent one is, and said we could give him it. We bought him a small lego set with a castle and dueling knights to go with it.
Paper: Blue and green pattern on the CD. I carefully taped down every single edge on the paper. He had to rip the untaped side instead. Blue with... Snowmen? On the bottom. Shawna covered every inch of the package neatly with packing tape, and we just told ourselves it was "Shiny Paper". He managed to find a slight edge between two pieces of packing tape and ripped it open there, but it hurt his fingers to do it. He acknowledged it was well wrapped. We only do this to him, since he does it to ours and then laughs maniacally, almost every year (Mandy wrapped this year). Red ribbon.
Candy Cane: Cherry Cola.
Mandi: We were at a lose as to what to get her, and she was the last on the list, so we asked Mom for ideas. Thankfully, she had a list of ideas, one of which was fluffy pyjamas. I had spent the whole shopping trip saying we should get someone PJs. Actually, I said we should get Mom and Trudi matching PJs. Either way, easy decision. We found some cute flannel ones that were pale blue with penguins. Then we added a bath bomb. This one was called Butterfly. Floral scented, dyed the water pink and had bits of flowers and paper butterflies in it. Supposed to wake you up. Someone else got her slippers. I see the making of a great personal day ahead.
Paper: Solid gold on the bathbomb. Gold with Santa prints on the PJs. I think the ribbon was gold too.
Candy Cane: Bubble gum, supposedly, but I think it was Tutti Fruitti. It was clear, with yellow, pink and blue stripes.
Rob: My parents bought Transformers for him, but are under a "no gifts" policy. As such, it went under our name. We also saw it with him over the summer, and adored the movie. We also bought him "Hedge Knight" the graphic novel by George R. R. Martin. He absolutely loves Game of Thrones, it's his favourite series and he rants about it. He's the reason I picked it up. So when I saw Hedge Knight, I knew he needed it. As I suspected, the name of the author sold him on it.
Paper: I believe they were silver and/or blue. One was silver with blue and white snowflakes. Black ribbon.
Candy Cane: Root Beer
Claire: Again, my mom bought her a puzzle and let us give it to her. Turns out this was a huge success. I almost felt guilty, she was like "Oh wow! How did you know!?" and my mom was just like "Oh, you always do them at the cottage, guess they just picked it up." Awesome gift on my mom's part though. Since she didn't tell us about til after we finished shopping though, Shawna and I also picked up some body butter from the Body Shop, scented like Vanilla Spice. I loved the smell. Shawna loved the smell. Claire loves the body butters from the Body Shop. We also bought her a bath bomb. Actually, she's the initial reason we went into Lush looking for something else, and came out with 3 bath bombs. We decided to split them up afterwards. Her's is Jingly Spell. It's supposed to be really great for hangovers, but was also relaxing when we asked the clerk about it. It's purple, and I think smells a bit minty... Don't quite remember the scent. It has silver stars on it too, to float in the bath.
Paper: Silver on the puzzle and bath bomb. Silver with penguins on the body butter. Gold ribbon.
Candy Cane: Bahi Mami? Hati Mahi? Something like that. It was yellow and red striped.
I think my biggest disappointment this year was not buying a bath bomb for Mom and Trudi. XD They would probably like one too. In Trudi's case, we'd already bought the earring as a smaller gift before we got to Lush and got bath bombs, and it was already on the expensive side, since it was both a game and earrings. On Mom's side, a bit of the same, already had bought the shirt to go with the DVDs. Also, we just didn't think to split them up and not give all three to Claire until we'd already paid and left the store. I'll probably go back boxing week and see if they have a sale anyways. If they do, that'll be what I get. And one for me. Shawna already got herself one. I'm sure I can use it before I go back to Guelph.
All in all though, a completely awesome year. I don't think anyone was disappointed. Possibly Joey, with the Lego, but he still thought it was really cool, and the wrapping job was just hilarious. Short of things not fitting, and Rune Factory turning out to be awful (Though I was surprised last year how much Trudi liked Harvest Moon), I think I can hand out gold stars all around, both for giving and receiving. Now I just need to survive tomorrow, when we see the other side of the family...