christmas, pt. 1
themarshal and i just came home from the first of 3 christmas parties. yes, three. tonight was the christmas dinner/gift-exchange with my sister, her husband, and their kids. we also invited marshall's mom over to join us, since she's up here staying with marshall's aunt (they were visiting with their daughter's in-laws tonight). but let's back up for a bit...
this morning marshall and i had our own little christmas gift exchange. we wouldn't have had too much time tonight, since we JUST got home, and we wouldn't have any time tomorrow morning, since we have to be at marshall's aunt's house for brunch at 9:30am (yeah, don't get me started...). so, we had to find a time to open our gifts to each other. this morning was it. i got some pretty nice loot this year from the marshal...
the first two gifts were ones that i kinda knew were coming. marshall wasn't very covert about shopping for it, granted i wasn't all that covert about shopping for HIS gift either. but hey, there are a gazillion i could've gotten him at fry's! i've been bitching about my keyboard and mouse (they're a combo). they're both wireless and pretty old. i got them as hand-me-downs from marshall when we started dating (4 years ago) and he got them about 2 years prior to that. it doesn't take too much to do the math there...i was in need of a new set. i couldn't find any wireless combos that i liked and i was kinda getting tired of disconnection and interference issues with the wireless deal. i wanted something substantial, that i KNEW would NEVER lose a connection (at least a connection i could physically fix myself). here's what i got:
this is the saitek eclipse II. it's back-lit and you can change the colors to red, blue or purple (i'm quite partial to the purple myself). and before you say anything celtcub, i know, this is the same keyboard you have. OMG - it's so nice. it's so incredibly quiet; i can barely hear myself typing the keys right now. it's really substantial and hefty. plus, i don't have to worry about batteries! to go along with the "back-lit" theme...
a totally techno mouse!! yes, i know it's a microsoft, but it's a really nice mouse. it has 7 programmable and bindable keys AND it lights up! my desk looks like a freakin disco dance club right now. what's kinda cool is the blue light on my keyboard matches the blue of the mouse. i like the feel of the mouse, but it's definitely different than my old one. it's also got like 5 different profiles for different key-bindings. i don't think i'll ever use it to its fullest potential (it is touted as being an ultimate gamers' mouse), but i still like it. and finally, the smallest, but definitely not the least important...
this is the elsa perreti letter "a" pendant. obviously, mine is the letter "m" (i couldn't find a picture, but here's what the "t" looks like). a month or so ago, marshall got a tiffany & co. catalog in the mail. i took a look at it and jokingly left little post-its near the items that i liked. i didn't think he'd actually get something for me! so yes, this was in the tiny little box. luckily, marshall knew to wrap the little tiffany box (yes, it came in the little blue box with the little white bow). i love it. i'm wearing it right now. it's so soft and delicate. *squee*
so that was from marshall. in turn, i got him a pair of bose headphones (really awesome!) and 2 volumes of the looney toons golden age DVDs. when they arrived at work, it took tons of willpower to keep the boxes in their shrink-wrap. i wanted to watch them right then and there. i can't wait until we get to start in on them. they're like the best of the best looney toon cartoons. he was happy to get them. i also got him a gift box of johnny walker black (it came with two johnny walker tumblers).
tonight at my mom's we opened up so many gifts. some of the gifts i got are for actually marshall and i. we got two really nice crate and barrel wooden cutting boards (one is a rectangle, very functional, and the other is in the shape of an apple) from my sister. she also gave us 2 cheese knives (1 for hard cheeses and another for soft cheeses). my mom gave me a bunch of gifts. first and foremost i got these. they're lovely and much more brown than the picture lends. i was hoping they wouldn't be as "gray" as their description says and they aren't. they're a great color brown cuz they will go with black and brown clothes. my mom also gave me some holiday socks (i love them). she, too, got me some cutting boards. these are really flexible and sanitary (for meats) cutting boards. they've got little pictures on them, so in case you're being super safe and using one strictly for fish, another for chicken, beef, veggies, etc. i also got this really cool illustrated map of paris. i think i'm going to have it framed. it's like a old-looking visitor's map to paris, so all the main streets are there and all of the main points of interest. i love it. she also got me this super cool colander. it's silicone and it folds up neatly (for easy storage) AND has little fold-out legs with rubber feet, so it sits nicely in the sink. we desperately needed a new one and this one is awesome. i know, i'm such a nerd, but whatev! lastly, my mom surprised me with a (again) nerdy t-shirt. she got me a "this american life" t-shirt. it's great - i love it.
so yeah, i had an awesome haul this year and that's just after tonight. i've still got 2 christmas events to go to tomorrow. the first is, as i said, at marshall's aunt's house. we're having brunch and exchanging gifts. we have to be there at the crack of dawn. yeah 9:30am may as well be 5:30am to me. in any case, i'm looking forward to it. marshall's family is really nice and fun to hang out with. then further up north in california (his aunt lives in ben lommand, near santa cruz), we've got christmas dinner with my mom's family. we'll be heading up to south san francisco to my mom's cousin's. they're low-key, but lots of fun, still.
+_+_+_+
things today started out kinda funky. my mom was feeling icky and was mad that we were late getting over there to help set up for dinner tonight. we had to stop off at my sister's to pick up her salad fixings. seriously, you can't go over to that house without staying longer than you anticipate. it's conversation with my sister or her husband or getting roped into playing with the kids. it's like a black hole, sometimes. this time, my brother-in-law asked marshall to take a look at his wireless connection on his laptop. for some reason it just wouldn't connect. marshall fiddled around with it and we ended up staying later than we hoped. we actually hadn't eaten all day, so we stopped to grab lunch before going to my mom's. she was mad because, to her, my brother-in-law manipulated us into fixing something that she doesn't believe he'll use solely for work purposes, but something he'll be using as an excuse to do his fantasy football stuff in front of the tv, rather than running between the office and the living room. well, that's his thing. i'm sorry if we stayed longer and got there late, but it happens. it means a lot for me to help her out and it means a lot to my mom. she likes having the help and having the company. well, she took her frustrations out on us and so we're trying to help out and she's all pissy at us. i apologized like a thousand times. luckily, she got over it and ended up being a lot better later on. plus, marshall was dealing with a headache all afternoon, so i'm running around enjoying setting up for christmas and feeling the best i've felt emotionally in a few weeks and EVERYONE around me is feeling crappy. what is up with that?! anyway, like i said, things got better later on. i didn't particularly enjoy the priest presiding over the mass tonight, but that's another post all-together.
as it's past midnight...merry christmas, everyone!
this morning marshall and i had our own little christmas gift exchange. we wouldn't have had too much time tonight, since we JUST got home, and we wouldn't have any time tomorrow morning, since we have to be at marshall's aunt's house for brunch at 9:30am (yeah, don't get me started...). so, we had to find a time to open our gifts to each other. this morning was it. i got some pretty nice loot this year from the marshal...
the first two gifts were ones that i kinda knew were coming. marshall wasn't very covert about shopping for it, granted i wasn't all that covert about shopping for HIS gift either. but hey, there are a gazillion i could've gotten him at fry's! i've been bitching about my keyboard and mouse (they're a combo). they're both wireless and pretty old. i got them as hand-me-downs from marshall when we started dating (4 years ago) and he got them about 2 years prior to that. it doesn't take too much to do the math there...i was in need of a new set. i couldn't find any wireless combos that i liked and i was kinda getting tired of disconnection and interference issues with the wireless deal. i wanted something substantial, that i KNEW would NEVER lose a connection (at least a connection i could physically fix myself). here's what i got:
this is the saitek eclipse II. it's back-lit and you can change the colors to red, blue or purple (i'm quite partial to the purple myself). and before you say anything celtcub, i know, this is the same keyboard you have. OMG - it's so nice. it's so incredibly quiet; i can barely hear myself typing the keys right now. it's really substantial and hefty. plus, i don't have to worry about batteries! to go along with the "back-lit" theme...
a totally techno mouse!! yes, i know it's a microsoft, but it's a really nice mouse. it has 7 programmable and bindable keys AND it lights up! my desk looks like a freakin disco dance club right now. what's kinda cool is the blue light on my keyboard matches the blue of the mouse. i like the feel of the mouse, but it's definitely different than my old one. it's also got like 5 different profiles for different key-bindings. i don't think i'll ever use it to its fullest potential (it is touted as being an ultimate gamers' mouse), but i still like it. and finally, the smallest, but definitely not the least important...
this is the elsa perreti letter "a" pendant. obviously, mine is the letter "m" (i couldn't find a picture, but here's what the "t" looks like). a month or so ago, marshall got a tiffany & co. catalog in the mail. i took a look at it and jokingly left little post-its near the items that i liked. i didn't think he'd actually get something for me! so yes, this was in the tiny little box. luckily, marshall knew to wrap the little tiffany box (yes, it came in the little blue box with the little white bow). i love it. i'm wearing it right now. it's so soft and delicate. *squee*
so that was from marshall. in turn, i got him a pair of bose headphones (really awesome!) and 2 volumes of the looney toons golden age DVDs. when they arrived at work, it took tons of willpower to keep the boxes in their shrink-wrap. i wanted to watch them right then and there. i can't wait until we get to start in on them. they're like the best of the best looney toon cartoons. he was happy to get them. i also got him a gift box of johnny walker black (it came with two johnny walker tumblers).
tonight at my mom's we opened up so many gifts. some of the gifts i got are for actually marshall and i. we got two really nice crate and barrel wooden cutting boards (one is a rectangle, very functional, and the other is in the shape of an apple) from my sister. she also gave us 2 cheese knives (1 for hard cheeses and another for soft cheeses). my mom gave me a bunch of gifts. first and foremost i got these. they're lovely and much more brown than the picture lends. i was hoping they wouldn't be as "gray" as their description says and they aren't. they're a great color brown cuz they will go with black and brown clothes. my mom also gave me some holiday socks (i love them). she, too, got me some cutting boards. these are really flexible and sanitary (for meats) cutting boards. they've got little pictures on them, so in case you're being super safe and using one strictly for fish, another for chicken, beef, veggies, etc. i also got this really cool illustrated map of paris. i think i'm going to have it framed. it's like a old-looking visitor's map to paris, so all the main streets are there and all of the main points of interest. i love it. she also got me this super cool colander. it's silicone and it folds up neatly (for easy storage) AND has little fold-out legs with rubber feet, so it sits nicely in the sink. we desperately needed a new one and this one is awesome. i know, i'm such a nerd, but whatev! lastly, my mom surprised me with a (again) nerdy t-shirt. she got me a "this american life" t-shirt. it's great - i love it.
so yeah, i had an awesome haul this year and that's just after tonight. i've still got 2 christmas events to go to tomorrow. the first is, as i said, at marshall's aunt's house. we're having brunch and exchanging gifts. we have to be there at the crack of dawn. yeah 9:30am may as well be 5:30am to me. in any case, i'm looking forward to it. marshall's family is really nice and fun to hang out with. then further up north in california (his aunt lives in ben lommand, near santa cruz), we've got christmas dinner with my mom's family. we'll be heading up to south san francisco to my mom's cousin's. they're low-key, but lots of fun, still.
+_+_+_+
things today started out kinda funky. my mom was feeling icky and was mad that we were late getting over there to help set up for dinner tonight. we had to stop off at my sister's to pick up her salad fixings. seriously, you can't go over to that house without staying longer than you anticipate. it's conversation with my sister or her husband or getting roped into playing with the kids. it's like a black hole, sometimes. this time, my brother-in-law asked marshall to take a look at his wireless connection on his laptop. for some reason it just wouldn't connect. marshall fiddled around with it and we ended up staying later than we hoped. we actually hadn't eaten all day, so we stopped to grab lunch before going to my mom's. she was mad because, to her, my brother-in-law manipulated us into fixing something that she doesn't believe he'll use solely for work purposes, but something he'll be using as an excuse to do his fantasy football stuff in front of the tv, rather than running between the office and the living room. well, that's his thing. i'm sorry if we stayed longer and got there late, but it happens. it means a lot for me to help her out and it means a lot to my mom. she likes having the help and having the company. well, she took her frustrations out on us and so we're trying to help out and she's all pissy at us. i apologized like a thousand times. luckily, she got over it and ended up being a lot better later on. plus, marshall was dealing with a headache all afternoon, so i'm running around enjoying setting up for christmas and feeling the best i've felt emotionally in a few weeks and EVERYONE around me is feeling crappy. what is up with that?! anyway, like i said, things got better later on. i didn't particularly enjoy the priest presiding over the mass tonight, but that's another post all-together.
as it's past midnight...merry christmas, everyone!