Merry Christmas, Everybody!

Wow, what a Christmas season it’s been.

I’m sitting in my living room typing this into a Word document and surveying my Christmas loot. I got just about everything I wanted and more. I had a lot of fun watching my parents opening their presents.

From my parents, I got:

Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm by Philip Pullman

The Creative Collection of American Short Stories. I’m not sure who to credit this to, since it’s a collection of, well, creative American short stories. You probably figured that out. I pointed it out in a bookstore a few weeks ago, so I wasn’t exactly surprised, just very happy.

Steampunk: An Illustrated History of Fantastical Fiction, Fanciful Film and Other Victorian Visions by Brian J. Robb. It is a thoroughly awesome book. I was totally surprised. Dad had caught me looking at it in Vroman’s and noticed that he had to drag me away, but I didn’t think he’d remember. I have a feeling that it’s going to be incredibly useful when I’m writing my Steampunk Sherlock Holmes stories (currently planning out the second one).

The Henri, le Chat Noir 2013 Calendar. YES!!!

A knitted purple shawl from my mom. She knitted it herself, because she’s awesome that way. I just had to shove one of my cats off it. I don’t want his claws catching it.

Oh, and there’s the mysterious box-yet-to-come that my dad keeps hinting about. Hmm.

Other notable gifts from my relatives include a handmade wooden sign with my name on it from one of Mom’s sisters and her family, The Telescope: A Short History by Richard Dunne (that one’s from my dad’s brother and his family) and a whole lot of Godiva chocolate from one of my mom’s other sisters. Seriously, a lot of chocolate. She sent me three chocolate Santas (2 dark, 1 light), three Christmas triangles/trees (likewise) and a beautiful three-pound tin of assorted truffles and chocolates. A three-pound tin. That, my friends, is a whole lot of chocolate. Aunt Janet has this tradition of sending me chocolate for birthdays and Christmas and believe me, I’m not complaining. It is awesome.

Notable gifts that my dad got:

A yard-long tube of popcorn (from me)

A tin of acai tea (likewise)

A Perry the Platypus T-shirt. I bought this right under his nose when we were shopping for Mom. You should have seen his face.

And from Mom, he got a single sock.

In Mom’s defense, it’s a very nice sock. She knitted it herself, which isn’t easy with her hand injured (she had surgery this summer after an accident with a car door, so her hand isn’t what it was. Wow, that sounds really stupid. Of course it wasn’t what it was). She didn’t have time to make the second one, so she’ll give it to him for Valentine’s Day or something.

Mom’s notable gifts were a copy of Sense and Sensibility from Dad, four of my photos from Photography class, and a phone case and Peet’s gift card from Dad and me.

So after we opened our presents (which was actually after I got back from feeding the cats and birds I’m pet-sitting at the moment) we had a nice breakfast and then lounged around reading for a while. It’s really nice to just lounge around reading with your parents on Christmas. Dad and I went for a bike ride after lunch and this afternoon we finished A Christmas Carol. We have this tradition of reading A Christmas Carol together every year. That book’s great every time.

Tomorrow, I swear I’ll write up a few of last week’s highlights, which include Kris Kinds and me playing the cello at Carol Night. Ciao for now.