Christmas has come and gone. What did you do for Christmas and what did you get? My break down:

Dec. 24: Teresa and I stayed home and played M&M's Monopoly. We played that for a few hours despite using the "quick" version. We listened to some Christmas music on the radio and watched "Christmas Story" on TV when it came on. The radio here played something I had never heard before: old Christmas broadcasts from some point before TV came around. I listened to Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". There was another one on before that but I just caught the end so I missed out on what it was. They even had the old Campbell soup advertisements at the beginning and end.

Dec. 25: Teresa and I opened our gifts from each other and from my parents here. She got me a Gorillapod and a Sudoku electronic game (I've become addicted to those damn puzzles). My parents got me a nice vest, along with an Aebleskiver Pan and some money for Teresa and I. They also gave us some small things like socks, coffee, and some chocolates. Teresa got a nice grey fleece from them. I got Teresa some Burt's Bees Citrus & Ginger Root body wash, a knit blanket and a cloth Swedish calendar. My dad's mom gave me some money and Teresa a Body Shop kit with a handmade scarf. My mom's mom gave me some money and the "Cars" DVD and Teresa some money with "The Little Mermaid" DVD. After opening our gifts and talking to my mom and dad and grandma on the phone, we went over to Teresa's mom and dad's. There I got the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie and a big tub of cashews from Teresa's brother. Teresa's mom and dad got me a 24V Black & Decker drill and a B&D rotary tool. Later in the evening, we went over to one of Teresa's aunt and uncle's place for her full family gathering. There we did a gift exchange. It's similar to the way my mom's family did it (pick numbers, pick a gift and whoever goes after you can steal another person's gift or take one not already picked) but they opened their gifts before anybody else can steal so that everybody knows what they can choose from. I don't really care for it this way but maybe that's because I'm used to everybody keeping their gifts wrapped until the end. I ended up with an outdoorsy picture frame and an omelet maker. Teresa got a fleece blanket and a handpainted snowman wall decoration. All in all it was a pretty good day, got some nice gifts and ate way too much.

Dec. 26: Not Boxing Day like it is in Canada. Most everybody goes back to work and most stores have an "After Christmas Sale" where they clear out all their Christmas stuff with very few sales on anything else in the store. Teresa and I went out to try and find some cheap lights like we did last year but came up empty handed. I was looking for bubble lights in particular since those are my favourites from my parents tree.

Well, that's about it for updates.