I've decided that I'd like to do a little Christmas report.

Andy Whitman got to blog about Tolstoy and Bullwinkle. I want to share about my Christmas too. (Even though I'm pretty late.)


Okay, first, I'll tell you what I tell everyone when they ask if I had a good Christmas.

We got to see our family. Which, if know anything about the crazy Winter we've been having here in the land of salmon and Trail Blazers.

It was harder to see our cousins/aunt & uncle/grandma on my Dad's side than usual (we had to chain up 100 yards from their driveway; they live on a hill). But we got to see them, and I always like hanging out with them (and my aunt makes a good Christmas dinner).

After opening presents and playing some games, we headed over to do Christmas with my mom's side of the family. And that went great too. We tried a new seating arrangement for dinner (pushing the normally separate tables [i.e. "Kid's Table," "Grown-Up's Table"] together), and it felt more like a great big family dinner which I loved. (In fact, it's surprising that I noticed anything at all, because normally Christmas Dinner is just something to get through so we can start opening presents. This year was not like that. Congratulations, Aunt Lori!)

Okay: Favorite Presents:

My All-Time Favorite Present This Year (and maybe just in general over the past couple of years) was a black, tuxedo vest from my Mom and Dad.

Oooh man. I loved this thing. I cried when I opened it. I'm so glad I have it; I've wanted a vest for a long, long time.

Other great presents:

Don’t Do Anything, Sam Phillips
The Ringing Bell, Derek Webb (via swell gift cards)
There Will Be Blood
The Iron Giant
The Dick Van Dyke Show: Season One!
a pair of nike flip-flops like the old ones I had/have that broke.
my own external hard-drive (for movie editing).
Nice shampoo and conditioner. (For curly hair. )
a new backpack (with working zippers).
a nice-sized sketch pad (the bigger the better; 8 by 10 at the least.)