Nifty gifties!!!

Alright, it's time for the ritualistic post-Christmas listing of the gifts.

Because I am a giant nerd, (on the way up to Sun Peaks, Joel mentioned something about mitochondria, at which point I chimed in with 'the powerhouse of the cell!' and then his whole family laughed and called us nerds), I got two books on grammar that I'm totally pumped about: the infinitely readable Eats, Shoots and Leaves and the as-yet unread Elements of Style. I also got an Eats, Shoots and Leaves daily calender for 2008. Bring on the orthopedic shoes. Speaking of books, in a wildly successful effort to be quirky and fun, my mom wrapped each of our gifts in hollowed-out books. You know the ones - you keep money in them, or your will, or a gun. Or, in this case, money and a Remember Darfur bracelet and a scarf/immigrant head-covering.

Don't we look Jewish? H'anyways, Joel's parents had already given us bruised asses for Christmas, but they threw in stockings (!!!) as well.

I was pumped. Fake tattoos, reindeer unds, a journal with my face on the front, Scrabble fridge magnets, kleenex, socks, gum...I can't even remember it all. Next year I'll take notes. Joel got me a spice rack, as per request, and then this crazy chopper that I used tonight to chop an whole onion in, like, 30 seconds. Also a Tupperware container with segmented parts, because I hate for my food to touch.
What with all the recent additions to both families (me and Mike to the Kruegers, Joel and Gillian to the Pletts), the kids just drew names this year instead of trying to buy gifts for everyone. Bekah got me a wickedawesome Planet Earth interactive DVD game, which Joel and I have a date to play later on tonight, and I will let you know how that goes. On the Krueger side, the gift came with a stipulation: there must be a creative element. You could make a card like Joel did for Mike, write a poem like I did for Tina, make the entire gift yourself like Tina did for Leah, or dress it up as a snowman, as Mike did for me.

What was in the snowman, you ask? This awesomecosy jacket that I wore on our late-evening White-Christmas snow walk.Yes, it is awesome that it snowed. Jane, I can hear you shaking your head, but I've only ever had one white Christmas, and that was the year I was in Europe and that's only because it started snowing in October and never stopped. And I was miserable and cold because I didn't own a jacket. Now I do.

As a side note, gambling seemed to be a pervasive theme, as first Joel, then Matt, and finally Mike received a handful of Scratch-n-Wins.

It kept them quiet for a while, anyways.

So that's my loot, and I'm pleased as punch. And as my gift to you, dear intarwebs, I will try and post more often. I make excuses for myself over the holiday season, but there are those of you out there who have the fortitude to post almost daily. I am not as awesome as you.

Merry day-after-boxing-day.