Well, Christmas has come and gone. While I would have liked to have written this post a few days earlier, I’ve been busy with cleaning out my closet, going to parties, and several other things. However, as I type this post up, I’m doing so while looking at my new baby:
Yep, that’s a 22″ widescreen LCD monitor. It’s AWESOME! I feel like I’m sitting down as a space commander or something! EVen though my previous monitor was a 19″ SGI CRT, this one feels so much bigger than the old one! It’s HUGE in comparison! So I finally entered the 21st century with this new monitor, and for that I say “Thank you, Grandma!!!”
My folks also got me an authentic Hines Ward throwback jersey:
That’s pretty awesome! I have “replica” jerseys from Jack Lambert and Jerome Bettis, as well as an authentic Terry Bradshaw throwback jersey (that’s a bit too snug these days), so I’m excited to have a jersey from an active Steelers player… and one who is a Super Bowl MVP at that!
My folks also got me this t-shirt from founditemclothing.com. It’s a painstakingly accurate replica of the “I Love Toxic Waste” t-shirt Val Kilmer wore in Real Genius:
It’s friggin’ awesome! If you’re a fan of 80s movies, you’ll really want to check out founditemclothing.com’s site. They’ve done a lot of work in replicating some of the shirts from your favorite 80s films – like Caddyshack, Repo Man and Beverly Hills Cop – as well as shirts from newer films like Shawn of the Dead and The Big Lebowski.
I got several other presents too. Maybe they lack the “fun” of the previous presents… but that doesn’t mean they won’t be used or appreciated. My sister and brother-in-law got me a new belt, which was much needed and will be worn every day. They also got me Like An Icon, the new book about Madonna. I’ll be getting into that in the next few days.
But then there’s my “favorite present”. It’s hard to pick a “favorite present”. Sometimes you get things like a new belt or some new boots; these things lack a “Wow factor”, but you end up using them all the time. Then there’s things like a new vegetable peeler or flashlight. They’re inexpensive gifts, but often last for years. So when you pick them up five years later, you’re like “Man, my sister got me this for Christmas back in 2002!”, so there’s an endearing charm to them.
But then there are the things that people get for you that caused them a fair amount of grief. For the past couple of years I’ve put “British candy and cheeses” on my Christmas list. And my folks have come through with a handful of British candy bars and a hunk of Stilton and Cheshire, or whatever British cheeses were readily available at the grocery store. But this year, my Dad saw the “British candy and cheeses” on my list and decided to do something about it. I opened up this huge box and found it jammed full of delicious British treats:
I think that this is my favorite gift, mainly because my Dad read my list and took the time to track down a British food store in Atlanta. My Pop loaded me up! In addition to the huge box of candy pictured above, he also got me a galaxy of British cheeses, from Double Gloucester and Cheshire, to two types of Cheddar, Stilton and Wensleydale. Even though I always put “British candy and cheese” on my Christmas list (because I always eat it all!), he felt that I had been slighted in this regard, and it was so sweet that he tracked down a British food store just to hook me up! I don’t feel guilty, though: my Dad owned a wholesale food store in Atlanta for years, and I know that he can spend hours in exotic food stores. So he probably had fun just browsing the aisles!
Thanks to everyone for making this Christmas so special!