Boxing Day...

Well, up came Boxing Day (which isn't a holiday in the U.S., but it is in Canada, the UK, Australia, and several other countries). I was awoken by the alarm I'd set on my otherwise useless cell phone at 5:30 AM. I got out of bed at 6 AM. (I'm a lazy man when I can afford to be...) About 7:45, I got a call from Shaun, saying he was picking me up soon. I hurriedly got dressed, popped some aspirin (because I had a headache), and locked the door and ran downstairs. Then I ran back upstairs and grabbed my camera. Shaun came shortly, and we ran to Wal-Mart to pick up THE last gift: a new DVD player for Aaron and Jessica.

Shortly after we got there, my Mom and the kids showed up. Surprisingly, we didn't have a lot of family drama... Dad read the Christmas Story from Luke and Matthew, then we did presents. All my presents were well-recieved, and here's my haul for the year:

• A new coat, actually from a co-worker who noticed the seven-year old cloth jacket I was wearing had been tearing and was wearing out in the elbows.
• A paperback edition of E.T.A. Hoffman's The Nutcracker, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (I actually have an old hardcover, but it's showing wear. This was from Dad.
• Also from Dad was a cool Chronicles of Narnia keychain, shaped like Peter's Aslan shield, with Mr. Beaver's prophecy about Aslan and Spring. ("Wrong will be right when Aslan comes in sight...")
• Audrey and Shaun surprised me with a copy of the I Can Has Cheezburger book. I love LOLCats!
• Aaron and Jessica gave me a heavier jacket than my old one, but this was black. They also gave me a long-sleeve charcoal colored shirt. I had just been thinking I didn't have one...
• Someone was giving us sampler boxes of Russel Stover's chocolates. I'll go ahead and attribute to little sister Genevieve...
• Mom gave me ANOTHER jacket, this one almost like my old one, just heavier.
• Daniel gave all his brothers stocking caps. That will help!
• Audrey and Shaun also gave me the 3-disc DVD of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (just confirmed to be the last Narnia movie released by Disney), the one thing I'd been asking for. (Though I did say people could also get me the 2-disc of Iron Man, but no one did.) It was odd, because I gave my little brother Arthur a copy of the 1-disc version, but through a mix-up, my Dad opened it instead. I quickly set that right, and Arthur opened Dad's gift from me, Walt Disney Treasures: Annette.
• And Arthur gave me a clip to put on my glasses to make them sunglasses. Right now, wearing them makes my eyes ache, but I've decided it might be because of my old pair. As soon as I get my W-2, I'm filing my taxes and buying a new pair.

Al Cook, I did get suitably spoiled, thank you very much. I'm actually surprised at the lack of junk that was gifted this year! Usually Mom and the kids hit the $1 shops and thrift stores. (We have gotten gifts with 25 cent stickers still attached!)

I also took LOTS of photos that I've put on Facebook. (LINK)

After the exchange, we took out trash, did some Super Smashing on the Gamecube, then Mom, Dad, Drew, and the kids left. The rest of us (Aaron, Jessica, Audrey, Shaun, and myself) got lunch from Jimmy John's, and watched The Dark Knight (my gift to Shaun, 2-disc, of course), while we wait for Shaun's dad and stepmother to arrive. Arrive they did, but I didn't get to meet them, because as quickly as they had come, they left, taking Audrey and Shaun with them. After tiring of some solo Super Smashing, Aaron and Jessica decided to do some sight-seeing and possibly some shopping. They offered to drop me off back at home, which I took them up on, because I was bored and had been gone for about ten hours, plus I wanted to write this blog...

...which was interrupted when my cat unplugged my surge protector. Thank goodness Blogger has that auto-saving of blogs!