I have made a post for a few years now about what I got for Chrsitmas so I feel this is my yearly tradition now, not sure it’s a great one but oh well it is mine. This Christmas I went to Wisconsin Dells with my daughter for a night, it was ok, stressful but fun. Got to go swimming. It was a fun Christmas I think for her… and onto the presents for me!
This year had some ups and downs. My sister decided to make her year of giving about home-made bath items. Her family made some rice heat packs and ice packs for relaxing, and then gave a couple of candles and a box of chocolates. The box of chocolates I liked, one of the candles that smelled like linen was surprisingly good, haven’t tried the other one yet. I didn’t really care for the rice packs, don’t get it. She also sent a little pack of lotions which I suspect she got a bunch of them for free or really cheap and was just looking for someone to unload them. There were like three little suntan lotions in it.
My brother got his usual charity donation, this year it came with a calendar. But he also sent a box of snacks including buckeyes, sausage, crackers, BBQ sauce, and peanut butter pretzels. I liked the snack box a lot. I ate the buckeyes quickly, my roommate said she didn’t care for the sausage but I thought it was ok though not particularly good. Haven’t had a chance to try the rest due to our over-eating for the holidays anyway. He also found a biker toy with my name that I thought was hilarious and so I ran it a few times across the kitchen floor.
My mom gave me a belgian waffle iron and a box of mix and lots of flavored syrups. It was great and we have made waffles four or five times since we got it a few weeks ago. We have always been a fan of pancakes, but honestly waffles seem easier to make than pancakes with this iron and it is a really good one.
This year, we also decided to go out shopping with my daughter so that she could get each of us a present. I realize that this is something that a lot of people do at a very early age, but I have never done it with her previously. I think it meant more to her too that she got to do this. It gave her a chance to go out with each of us and pick something else for the other which was fun. Basically she came up with a general idea, and then my roommate and I specified what would be good in that category. For me, my daughter wanted to get me a video game and my roommate picked out Super Mario Bros. Wii which I absolutely love and have had a fun time playing with others as a family.
My roommate’s family also got me a video game, well kind of. They got me a gift card to Best Buy so that I could by myself a video game. I used it to buy Muramasa: The Demon Blade. I bought it because I wanted a more serious game that had ties to RPGs and looked cool. I felt that the game fit the bill, and so far it has. It is an absolutely gorgeous game. They also got me a cookbook from Graham Kerr which I really like because it is full of healthy recipes that look easy to make.
My roommate probably did the best job at finding me a present that she ever has done. This was the first time I can remember that I didn’t tell her exactly what to get me, and I even went further and told her that I didn’t really want video games this year (ironic that I got two anyway). But she got me art of Pac-Man Code from Ben Fry. I was very impressed that she was able to find this for me as it isn’t easy to find and it is something I really wanted but probably wouldn’t have bought because it is kind of expensive (perfect gift!!). She also got me an Ugly Doll. I knew she was getting me an ugly doll, but I love them so I didn’t mind.
Overall, a good Christmas I think. Not too many presents, and the presents I got I think for the most part were pretty good.