Did the SOP for Christmas — coffee cake and early morning gift-opening with Jim and Ginger, then get dressed and head up to my folks for early afternoon gift-opening with them and my grandmother, followed by the brother and his extended family arriving for a third round of gifting, going on from there to chit-chat and dinner, concluding with heading down to the Dellis for dessert with the them, the Ks, and the brother-in-law’s family. Leaven with laughter, egg nog, and viewing of kids capering about playing, and it made for a fine day.
A personally gratifying highlight: We got my 11-(12?)-year-old nephew Robbie Robert a soccer ball, which he went out to my folks’ cul-de-sac to kick around, with 8/9-year-old nephew Sean and 4-year-old Katherine in tow. Sean and Robbie ran around on the street kicking the ball, while Katherine …
Katherine stayed on the sidewalk, despite the incredible temptation and fun to be had. She ran back and forth around the cul-de-sac on the sidewalk, waiting for the ball to come over to her, obeying the Strict Injunctions she’s received in the past about going on the street.
Seeing it, I went out, told her what a good girl she was, and gave her permission to go out into the cul-de-sac. “I can — go out there?!” she asked with amazement, and when I nodded, she joined in the fun with glee. It was great to see, and we’ve given her several kudos since then.
As to swag, as the preceding post mentioned, the hot item was a TiVo — or, rather, permission to research and acquire the right one (but quickly, as there are some rebate deals that end 12/31). W00T! This has been a bone of contention matter of some discussion between Margie and me, with her being concerned that we’d end up watching more TV than we do; I can’t argue against that, though noting that it would be more TV we enjoy didn’t seem a good retort (particular since instead of “we” the concern was it would be “I” — as in, “Hey, Honey, that whole Dragnet marathon got caught on TiVo — let’s watch it!”).
What finally swayed her (aside from my joking wheedling) were the difficulties she was having in effectively time-shifting shows for Katherine to watch (and thus avoid other shows we didn’t want her watching). I agree — as well as suggesting to her that it means she can watch Iron Chef at a more reasonable hour (“Ah … I admit that had occured to me, too.”).
So, time for some quick research on TiVo over the next week, in particular what sort of drug interactions might occur between it and (encrypted) digital cable (Comcast), and how that compares to the new PVR service that Comcast has begun to offer. More on that as I go, but any input is certainly welcomed.
I also got a fair amount of business clothing, both from my parents and from Margie, including an IOU for a suit (i.e., “Let’s go out suit shopping some weekend”), which also is more appropriate than it once would have been.
There are also some new breakfast room chairs sitting back at Oak Warehouse waiting to be picked up. And we need a new laser printer.
Margie got a variety of fun things, but the centerpiece (at least to me) as the Nambe silver heart necklace I picked up a while back while shopping for a wedding gift for Dave & Lori. She seemed to like it.
Katherine got a couple of Barbies, but is desperately hoping that Santa left a bicycle at home for her, since she didn’t get one here. She got much clothing, but better than that, she got a rubber play ball, which she’s enjoying very much. As usual, the low-tech approach is often the best …
… though it’s easy to forget that the Leapster was also a Christmas gift for her, albeit one that we gave her pre-Orlando trip. She’s gotten some good use out of it so far.
Jim & Ginger gave us a folding Queen-sized cot with an inflatable mattress (with battery operated inflator) for the next KOA. Very nice. Many other very nice gifts as well, from many nice people — friends and family — most of which we’re going to have to figure out how to pack up and get back home.
Whew. The receiving was great. But it was still more fun giving. 🙂
Though … I do have a birthday coming up …