Barefoot Christmas
Written a couple days ago...
I’m at my sister’s for the holidays & don’t have actual internet access at the moment. So, I’m typing up e-mails & blog posts on my not-so-easily-portable laptop so I can send them out once I get back home. I’m enjoying getting to spend time with my nutty family- especially my niece who is hilarious & fun- although I’m finding it disconcerting to be cut off from the rest of my life. Oh, & at the moment we’re all watching Catch-22. I think I'm related to some of those people.
I got a pretty good haul as far as gifts go. Sis got me a Michael's Gift Card (of an amount to be determined, since she couldn't remember & didn't write it down), LawBro managed to get me a book that was on my list without ever actually finding my list-- The Illustrated Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, written by his great-grand-nephew & with many cool things to play with. GeekBro found an especially cool gift for me that wasn't on my list- Cobain Unseen. Seeing as I love Nirvana (I was an early fan) & books that I can play with (& of course, books about other crazy people), it was a total win. :-) And Mom bought me new tires for my car, which have made a *world* of difference in me getting around in the snow. No wiggling! Yay!
I gave both my brothers flash drives with their names engraved on them & phone numbers- both are labeled as their "Moble Mini-brain". GeekBro's has a Jolly Roger on it, too while LawBro's has the Scales of Justice. It's fun what I can think up when things get slow at work & I have an engraving machine to play with. I gave Sis & Amazing Niece matching bracelets- Sis's was Blue Jade with a bird charm & Niece's was Rose Quarts with a butterfly charm. I engraved their first initial on the front & their names on the back & they really liked them. I think Sis liked it more because it matched her daughter than anything else- she's not exactly a jewelry person. I also gave Sis a picture frame engraved with Niece's baptism date as a birthday present. I'd bought it for her early on & then forgot I'd bought it & came up with the bracelet idea. Her birthday's in early January so that worked out. I did the same fram for Mom, too, along with a cute tea bag caddy, a kinda cheesy heart box (with a very appropriate saying on it about being grateful for her support) & a writing journal. She likes to write stories but she usually ends up writing them in the same cheap notebooks she keeps track of her bills in so I thought she might like something nice for actually writing in.
Ate *WAY* too much food. I've been afraid to weigh myself, although my pants haven't tightened up too much. And of course, I haven't gotten *anything* accomplished. Oh well. I don't get to see my amazing niece all that often. Today she had me in a pink hat & sunglasses while she also had a pink hat & sunglasses on. My brothers commented that "Instead of the Blues Brothers, we've got the Pink Sisters" I commented that I felt like a girly Hunter S. Thompson, since my pink hat was a fisherman-type style. Pictures were taken of course & I'll try to remember to post them once I get copies.
For a turkey, you sure are a ham.
As our gift to Mom, we decided to have family pictures taken. All our other family pictures have either my ex or Sis's ex in them & we thought it's be nice to have ones of just us. Mom's current family picture in her office has Sis's ex in it & Mom's tacked a picture of the Amazing Niece over him. :-) Niece was fabulous for the pictures- she's a total ham. In fact, the quote above is a "Smithism" from Uncle George that he said to Niece when we met up for lunch. It was especially wonderful getting to see Uncle George & Aunt LeeAnn as we usually only get to see them every couple of years or so & this makes for the second time this year (they're the ones we went camping with back in June). So much fun!
It was a bit weird being somewhere warm for Christmas, though. The idea of running around barefoot at the end of December, as Niece & I were at one point, is just kinda *wrong* from someone who's used to a pile of snow.
I’m at my sister’s for the holidays & don’t have actual internet access at the moment. So, I’m typing up e-mails & blog posts on my not-so-easily-portable laptop so I can send them out once I get back home. I’m enjoying getting to spend time with my nutty family- especially my niece who is hilarious & fun- although I’m finding it disconcerting to be cut off from the rest of my life. Oh, & at the moment we’re all watching Catch-22. I think I'm related to some of those people.
I got a pretty good haul as far as gifts go. Sis got me a Michael's Gift Card (of an amount to be determined, since she couldn't remember & didn't write it down), LawBro managed to get me a book that was on my list without ever actually finding my list-- The Illustrated Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, written by his great-grand-nephew & with many cool things to play with. GeekBro found an especially cool gift for me that wasn't on my list- Cobain Unseen. Seeing as I love Nirvana (I was an early fan) & books that I can play with (& of course, books about other crazy people), it was a total win. :-) And Mom bought me new tires for my car, which have made a *world* of difference in me getting around in the snow. No wiggling! Yay!
I gave both my brothers flash drives with their names engraved on them & phone numbers- both are labeled as their "Moble Mini-brain". GeekBro's has a Jolly Roger on it, too while LawBro's has the Scales of Justice. It's fun what I can think up when things get slow at work & I have an engraving machine to play with. I gave Sis & Amazing Niece matching bracelets- Sis's was Blue Jade with a bird charm & Niece's was Rose Quarts with a butterfly charm. I engraved their first initial on the front & their names on the back & they really liked them. I think Sis liked it more because it matched her daughter than anything else- she's not exactly a jewelry person. I also gave Sis a picture frame engraved with Niece's baptism date as a birthday present. I'd bought it for her early on & then forgot I'd bought it & came up with the bracelet idea. Her birthday's in early January so that worked out. I did the same fram for Mom, too, along with a cute tea bag caddy, a kinda cheesy heart box (with a very appropriate saying on it about being grateful for her support) & a writing journal. She likes to write stories but she usually ends up writing them in the same cheap notebooks she keeps track of her bills in so I thought she might like something nice for actually writing in.
Ate *WAY* too much food. I've been afraid to weigh myself, although my pants haven't tightened up too much. And of course, I haven't gotten *anything* accomplished. Oh well. I don't get to see my amazing niece all that often. Today she had me in a pink hat & sunglasses while she also had a pink hat & sunglasses on. My brothers commented that "Instead of the Blues Brothers, we've got the Pink Sisters" I commented that I felt like a girly Hunter S. Thompson, since my pink hat was a fisherman-type style. Pictures were taken of course & I'll try to remember to post them once I get copies.
For a turkey, you sure are a ham.
As our gift to Mom, we decided to have family pictures taken. All our other family pictures have either my ex or Sis's ex in them & we thought it's be nice to have ones of just us. Mom's current family picture in her office has Sis's ex in it & Mom's tacked a picture of the Amazing Niece over him. :-) Niece was fabulous for the pictures- she's a total ham. In fact, the quote above is a "Smithism" from Uncle George that he said to Niece when we met up for lunch. It was especially wonderful getting to see Uncle George & Aunt LeeAnn as we usually only get to see them every couple of years or so & this makes for the second time this year (they're the ones we went camping with back in June). So much fun!
It was a bit weird being somewhere warm for Christmas, though. The idea of running around barefoot at the end of December, as Niece & I were at one point, is just kinda *wrong* from someone who's used to a pile of snow.