HORAAY FOR CHRISTMAS!! (long entry)
Tonight I greet you from the house of my grandparents in Colorado Springs, Colorado. For those that do not know this, all of my mother's immediate family lives here or in Denver, which is about 30 minutes away. As it turns out, we make it up here about once a year, often twice, so its not unusual. In fact, this is where I learned to drive. However, we have not been up here for Christmas in about 8 years, or so my mother and I reckon. Usually, we go up to Pennsylvania where my DAD's immediate family is, or we stay home. We only make it up to Pennsylvania every other year, which is because it is a 24 hour drive, or two 12 hour days.
This year, we have come to Colorado because we did not come up for Thanksgiving (which was because we found out at almost the last minute that I did not get enough time off from school). While I love both sets of family equally, I hate to admit the Dempseys are much more fun. Part of this is because of my grandparents; my mom's parents aren't your typical grandparents. For example, my grandpa helped found a driving school that is based off of racing techniques. Grandma sells real estate (although I think she is getting out of that soon). The rest of the family is pretty much the same; they aren't your average aunts and uncles.
One of the things I find frusterating at times is the fact that I am VERY obviously Grandma's favorite; I'm the oldest of all her grandkids, and I think she just likes me. This is frusterating because I get spoiled rotten while my sister doesn't, and I feel bad. However, my sister has come to terms with that, and doesn't really care, but I still feel bad about enjoying it too much. I guess I can't complain.
ANYWAY...
--CHRISTMAS IN TEXAS--
So we're up un Colorado for Christmas, which is cool. We did a family Christmas in Texas before we left, and I presented my mom and sister with the present I got them, a VCR. Officially, it is also for my dad, but he will use it the least, so I got him a "Dilbert" book that is actually THREE books. Ever since then, however, my mom has been bragging to everybody that I got her a VCR for christmas. She was very surprised, since, though an accounting error, I had ended up owing the bank $150 and she had to help me out (she told me not to pay her back since she would be sending me money if I was away at college ANYWAY). However, I still had some money stashed away for just such an emergency as Christmas. Plus it was on sale (shhh!) My sister and I together got the "Guinness Book of World Records 2005" (this is the 50th anniversary), and I got a set of poker chips. The ones I got were very, very nice. When I asked for them, I meant with a cheap plastic rotating thingy, not wood. My sister got me probably my favorite gift this year: she made the penguin from Wallace and Gromet's "The Wrong Trousers" out of clay. First of all, I didn't know my sister was that good with clay. Secondly, the attention to detail is great; he has the red rubber glove on his head and he's holding the huge diamond. It is just really cool. She said she was going to make a snow globe, but ran out of time, so she thought she'ld present me with the penguin, then make the snow globe later.
I got the following things for friends this year:
-For Jason, I found the "Pulp Fiction" screenplay as a text document online. I spent about 3 days reformatting it, and as soon as I get back, I have to take a disk to Kinko's and have it printed. I had done this for his birthday with "Clue," and he loved it.
-I found a hot rod book for Richard. Its like a coffee table book on super-steroids; its got lots of big pictures, but it also has enough text to be a novel.
-I gave Tyson a book called, "The Encyclopedia of Handheld Weapons." I was afriad it would all be stuff he knew, but then I skimmed it; it is uber-extensive! I'm going to have to borrow it from him in a couple months.
-I have a "Project 86" CD that I'm giving to Daniel. Somebody left it at my house, and I thought he'ld like it... no, he's not the one that left it.
-I still have to find something for Crystal and Sam...
Tyson bought me "Shaun of the Dead." When he asked me what I wanted, I said "Napolean Dynamite," so thats what he was going to get me. However, when he went to pick it up, it was completely out! (it had been released on DVD two days prior) They said the next shipment that wasn't totally reserved was coming in late January! However, he gave me a call and asked if "Shaun of the Dead" was alright, and I said, "heck yeah!" That night, I picked him up and the two of us exchanged gifts. Then we went to Jason's house to watch it, since A) its a cool movie and B) Sam hadn't seen it yet. The next night my family left for Colorado.
For years, I have wanted a white Christmas in Texas, and I have never had one. In fact, this year in particular was especially warm; two days before we left, we were wearing shorts. However, the next day, the day BEFORE we left there was a massive cold snap, which I have later learned was almost nation-wide. We had several inches of snow, which is a couple inches more than usual. By the way, in this part of Texas, we usually get one snow a year, and thats it. But we do get it almost every year. However, this year, there was probably a white Christmas, and I missed it. Oh well.
All of this leads into my next point: The trip up takes 12-13 hours reliably. However, this year, because of the weather, it took just over 15 hours. Most of it was a 2 hour period around Ratton, where all the traffic crawled along.
--CHRISTMAS IN COLORADO--
We arrived the night before Christmas Eve. The next day, we prepared, and Grandma spent the entire day cooking. You have to understand that in the Dempsey family it is the tradition to open everything on Christmas eve and have a big buffet-type meal to go along with it. This tradition has carried into my family, and I enjoy it much more that opening packages on Christmas morning. The other tradition is to open a present, then pick out a present for someone else and repeat. It takes much longer, but I like it that way.
Altogether there were 12 people there, which was a tight fit in a decent-sized living room with a tree and piles (PILES) of presents. For me, just concerning loot, this was a good year. I got a LOT of stuff. I had a pretty good haul. This is what I, personally, got in Colorado:
-Army Of Darkness: Boomstick Edition on DVD
-The Return Of The King: Extended Edition on DVD
-the Kill Bill Volume II soundtrack
-a new wallet (I've already got two in reserve) with "caribeaner key fob"
-a (REALLY) cheap pair of binoculars
-a small Home Depot tool kit for my car
-25 bucks as Circuit City
-5 bucks at Blockbuster
-20 Bucks at Blockbuster
-an unknown ammount at AMC Theaters (my mom forgot how much she got me)
-a cheap travel-type game
-one of those things where you pull the cord real fast and the disk on top pops off and hovers around
-a chocolate TV remote from Anderson's Choclate. This place is a local chocolatier in Monacca, Pennsylvania, and it is probably the best chocolate I have every had, especially their melt-away mints.
-a six-pack of regular-sized Almond Joys
-a bag of chocolate-covered almonds
-a Toblerone
-a bunch of Ritter Sport wafer things
-some "ouchless" elastic hair-band things :)
-ANOTHER "Mini Mag-Lite" type flashlight (I have literally about a dozen of these things... this one is Smith & Wesson brand, and is actually pretty nice)
-a crapload of mini Reces Peanut Butter Cups
The stuff I got in Texas:
-Guinness 2005
-poker chips
-clay penguin
-Shaun Of The Dead on DVD
This list excludes nothing that I can remember. Also, on rereading this entry, I noticed I use the word "cheap" often. I want to clarify that this is not a criticism in any way, merely a descriptive adjective.
All in all, I think I can honestly say that this was probably my favorite Christmas. I enjoyed every bit of it, and there were no problems. I got things I liked, and I gave things that the recipients liked (or will like, in about a week). I spent time with family and I had a good time. The presents I recieved AND gave had special meaning and were not simply excuses to spend money. I have not enjoyed a Christmas this much in a long time, if ever.
This year, we have come to Colorado because we did not come up for Thanksgiving (which was because we found out at almost the last minute that I did not get enough time off from school). While I love both sets of family equally, I hate to admit the Dempseys are much more fun. Part of this is because of my grandparents; my mom's parents aren't your typical grandparents. For example, my grandpa helped found a driving school that is based off of racing techniques. Grandma sells real estate (although I think she is getting out of that soon). The rest of the family is pretty much the same; they aren't your average aunts and uncles.
One of the things I find frusterating at times is the fact that I am VERY obviously Grandma's favorite; I'm the oldest of all her grandkids, and I think she just likes me. This is frusterating because I get spoiled rotten while my sister doesn't, and I feel bad. However, my sister has come to terms with that, and doesn't really care, but I still feel bad about enjoying it too much. I guess I can't complain.
ANYWAY...
--CHRISTMAS IN TEXAS--
So we're up un Colorado for Christmas, which is cool. We did a family Christmas in Texas before we left, and I presented my mom and sister with the present I got them, a VCR. Officially, it is also for my dad, but he will use it the least, so I got him a "Dilbert" book that is actually THREE books. Ever since then, however, my mom has been bragging to everybody that I got her a VCR for christmas. She was very surprised, since, though an accounting error, I had ended up owing the bank $150 and she had to help me out (she told me not to pay her back since she would be sending me money if I was away at college ANYWAY). However, I still had some money stashed away for just such an emergency as Christmas. Plus it was on sale (shhh!) My sister and I together got the "Guinness Book of World Records 2005" (this is the 50th anniversary), and I got a set of poker chips. The ones I got were very, very nice. When I asked for them, I meant with a cheap plastic rotating thingy, not wood. My sister got me probably my favorite gift this year: she made the penguin from Wallace and Gromet's "The Wrong Trousers" out of clay. First of all, I didn't know my sister was that good with clay. Secondly, the attention to detail is great; he has the red rubber glove on his head and he's holding the huge diamond. It is just really cool. She said she was going to make a snow globe, but ran out of time, so she thought she'ld present me with the penguin, then make the snow globe later.
I got the following things for friends this year:
-For Jason, I found the "Pulp Fiction" screenplay as a text document online. I spent about 3 days reformatting it, and as soon as I get back, I have to take a disk to Kinko's and have it printed. I had done this for his birthday with "Clue," and he loved it.
-I found a hot rod book for Richard. Its like a coffee table book on super-steroids; its got lots of big pictures, but it also has enough text to be a novel.
-I gave Tyson a book called, "The Encyclopedia of Handheld Weapons." I was afriad it would all be stuff he knew, but then I skimmed it; it is uber-extensive! I'm going to have to borrow it from him in a couple months.
-I have a "Project 86" CD that I'm giving to Daniel. Somebody left it at my house, and I thought he'ld like it... no, he's not the one that left it.
-I still have to find something for Crystal and Sam...
Tyson bought me "Shaun of the Dead." When he asked me what I wanted, I said "Napolean Dynamite," so thats what he was going to get me. However, when he went to pick it up, it was completely out! (it had been released on DVD two days prior) They said the next shipment that wasn't totally reserved was coming in late January! However, he gave me a call and asked if "Shaun of the Dead" was alright, and I said, "heck yeah!" That night, I picked him up and the two of us exchanged gifts. Then we went to Jason's house to watch it, since A) its a cool movie and B) Sam hadn't seen it yet. The next night my family left for Colorado.
For years, I have wanted a white Christmas in Texas, and I have never had one. In fact, this year in particular was especially warm; two days before we left, we were wearing shorts. However, the next day, the day BEFORE we left there was a massive cold snap, which I have later learned was almost nation-wide. We had several inches of snow, which is a couple inches more than usual. By the way, in this part of Texas, we usually get one snow a year, and thats it. But we do get it almost every year. However, this year, there was probably a white Christmas, and I missed it. Oh well.
All of this leads into my next point: The trip up takes 12-13 hours reliably. However, this year, because of the weather, it took just over 15 hours. Most of it was a 2 hour period around Ratton, where all the traffic crawled along.
--CHRISTMAS IN COLORADO--
We arrived the night before Christmas Eve. The next day, we prepared, and Grandma spent the entire day cooking. You have to understand that in the Dempsey family it is the tradition to open everything on Christmas eve and have a big buffet-type meal to go along with it. This tradition has carried into my family, and I enjoy it much more that opening packages on Christmas morning. The other tradition is to open a present, then pick out a present for someone else and repeat. It takes much longer, but I like it that way.
Altogether there were 12 people there, which was a tight fit in a decent-sized living room with a tree and piles (PILES) of presents. For me, just concerning loot, this was a good year. I got a LOT of stuff. I had a pretty good haul. This is what I, personally, got in Colorado:
-Army Of Darkness: Boomstick Edition on DVD
-The Return Of The King: Extended Edition on DVD
-the Kill Bill Volume II soundtrack
-a new wallet (I've already got two in reserve) with "caribeaner key fob"
-a (REALLY) cheap pair of binoculars
-a small Home Depot tool kit for my car
-25 bucks as Circuit City
-5 bucks at Blockbuster
-20 Bucks at Blockbuster
-an unknown ammount at AMC Theaters (my mom forgot how much she got me)
-a cheap travel-type game
-one of those things where you pull the cord real fast and the disk on top pops off and hovers around
-a chocolate TV remote from Anderson's Choclate. This place is a local chocolatier in Monacca, Pennsylvania, and it is probably the best chocolate I have every had, especially their melt-away mints.
-a six-pack of regular-sized Almond Joys
-a bag of chocolate-covered almonds
-a Toblerone
-a bunch of Ritter Sport wafer things
-some "ouchless" elastic hair-band things :)
-ANOTHER "Mini Mag-Lite" type flashlight (I have literally about a dozen of these things... this one is Smith & Wesson brand, and is actually pretty nice)
-a crapload of mini Reces Peanut Butter Cups
The stuff I got in Texas:
-Guinness 2005
-poker chips
-clay penguin
-Shaun Of The Dead on DVD
This list excludes nothing that I can remember. Also, on rereading this entry, I noticed I use the word "cheap" often. I want to clarify that this is not a criticism in any way, merely a descriptive adjective.
All in all, I think I can honestly say that this was probably my favorite Christmas. I enjoyed every bit of it, and there were no problems. I got things I liked, and I gave things that the recipients liked (or will like, in about a week). I spent time with family and I had a good time. The presents I recieved AND gave had special meaning and were not simply excuses to spend money. I have not enjoyed a Christmas this much in a long time, if ever.