Merry Christmas Everyone!
I know, I know … I keep telling everyone how I’m an atheist and don’t believe in all that dogma and silly tradition … but I make an exception for Christmas. Why? The presents, the food, and the family get-togethers … those are all good things, just sadly wrapped up in some stupid Christian myth. hehe. And Wow, big time this year! Every year we say we aren’t going to go nuts over Christmas .. no presents for kids, nothing. And every year someone caves in. LoL. This year my sister Karen really went above and beyond the call of the Xmas spirit! She got all kinds of stuff for everyone, especially my Mom (took her clothes shopping at Pennington’s and got her a whole wardrobe! plus a bunch of nice gifts) We all made out pretty well on xmas morning … I even got some unexpected presents!
Here is a collection of pictures from the early morning present-opening festivities:
Flickr Slideshow. Never used this slideshow feature before, so let me know if it doesn’t work for the general public! I can always host the images elsewhere.
Myself, I really wanted to buy everyone something nice. Had it all picked out too. A bluetooth headset for my sisters cellphone, a mp3 player for Nick, a karaoke machine for Sarah, dvd player for my mom, etc etc. But I fought the urge to add to my already overwhelming and impossible to pay credit card debts. Instead, I went shopping in my closet! lol. Found some good stuff in there too. I got a wired earplug/mic for my sister’s cellphone that I got for free via the internet, a cartoon book for Nick, scrabble set for Sarah, a collection of Steevie Nicks Music for my mom, made some dvds for my mom - full of pirated movies. Not too bad for last minute re-gifting. hehe. It says a lot about me that I have all this stuff, most of it unopened, sitting in my closet!
So tomorrow is the great Canadian event of the year … Boxing Day! I’m going to use one of my gifts (a 50$ gift card) and head out early to Walmart for some door-crasher specials. Hoping to get a cheap MP3 player to use for my walks, maybe a watch. And also find a few small gifts for others … including my sisters BF who gave me the gift card. Kinda lame I know, but I should get him something to thank him for his effort to make my xmas a little bit better. Of course, I’d prefer if he instead just spent more time making my sister happy and content in life … but that’s a bit more difficult for him to do I guess. :p
Yesterday, Christmas eve, I spent the whole day preparing christmas dinner. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce, gravy, veggies, fresh bread, salad. the works. Unfortunately, it was a bit much for me. I got it done alright by myself while everyone was either out shopping or watching movies. But when it came time to eat it at around 5:30pm … I wasn’t able to do anything. 
I had to go to bed because my body was caput! Everyone was really patient with me though .. they waited another hour to eat so I could have a nap first. Then we all had a nice meal together for the holidays. 
Sucks that something like this is too much for me (kinda embarrassing too), but it all worked ok - so I shouldn’t complain. At least I’m still around to enjoy these things, and now I have leftovers to keep me fed all week. Starting on the turkey soup today. I know that doesn’t sound like an all day thing .. but it is. It’s a lot of work to make a decent soup that is salt and fat free. Got to boil the bones (with some onions, carrots, celery) to make the broth. Then filter out everything but the juices. Let it cool in the fridge. Skim off the congealed fats/butter because that would make me very ill. Then re-add some meat and fresh veggies. Think I’ll make it into a turkey-rice soup this time. Sounds good eh? 
Your welcome to come over for a taste anytime!
