newnumber6 | Entries tagged with xmas

Well, Xmas is over (and yet some stations are STILL PLAYING XMAS PROGRAMMING. THIS IS NOT OK. WE ARE DONE WITH THIS. IT'S BEEN THE CHRISTMAS SEASON SINCE OCTOBER).

I normally post a 'haul' list, but so far it's not been much, in terms of numbers. In fact, for the first year in recent memory I think I gave more actual gifts than I got (in terms of value though, I still received more).

I got:
A gift card (Wendy's)
A bag of white-chocolate-peppermint covered pretzels
A pair of gloves
And all the rest has been money, not even gift cards, just money.

There are still a bit of outstanding people who might get me something.

I'm not disappointed, anything's nice to get.

Gave:
A digital photo frame for my grand mother, with some pictures of family and stuff preloaded into it.
A small pampering-gift for stepmother
Booze for the Dad
A 'go out to dinner' give card for both of them together
A Future Shop gift card for my brother, HMV for his wife.

Couple people I was debating whether or not to get anything for and decided against it, unfortunately... because they did give me something (the Wendy's card). It's not like I'm hurting for money it's just I didn't know if they were going to get anything and didn't want to make them feel awkward about it, so instead I get that feeling. Oh well, I'll remember for next year.

On Christmas Eve, we went the party room in the apartment building of one of the Stepsiblings, had a good turkey and ham and mash potatoes, pumpkin pie, cookies, candies... good food, and good to see them all (we don't get together too often), though I didn't talk much, not great in crowds.

On Xmas day (after I finished watching the Doctor Who special, which I liked in general but saw the end coming and thought it was a bit too... cute in some ways, to the detriment of believability, and I'm afraid, continuity), we went to see my grandmother (and Dad and Stepmother again), and one of my aunts was also there. We had tacos, along with Greek sausages and of course bunches of cookies and cheesecake.

Today I had work in the morning, but after work, I walked down to the Eaton Center area to check out stores... Best Buy, Future Shop, World's Biggest Bookstore, Silver Snail, and of course, the used bookstores, but, didn't wind up getting anything at all. It was still pretty early in the morning (before their normal opening hours, but since it was Boxing Day sales many of them were open early), so I probably could have gotten some of the good deals, but I just didn't see anything that grabbed me. The only thing I spent half a second considering was a Kobo Vox ereader for about $100 I think, $80 off. But... I think $50 is about all I'm willing to spend on something designed mainly as an e-reader, no matter what fancy other features it has. Black Friday they had one discounted for that price and I put it off, but this time that model didn't go on sale at all, so I decided to pass... as I said, $50 is about my limit for that. If I'm going to go much higher, I might as well spring for a couple hundred more and just get an all out Android phone (which I've been thinking about for a while and I might have got today, but all of the sales were "cheap if you get a phone contract" deals, and I just want the phone itself, pretty much for the WiFi. Nobody ever calls me, or would text me so a phone contract (particularly one that is onerous enough that they feel the need to give you a really cheap phone to lure you in) feels like wasted money... if I ever get a life or some other need for a temporary phone I can get a contract or pay-as-you-go later).

I did however find a $5 bill on the ground. Nobody was around, so, yoink! And since I didn't purchase anything, somehow I left boxing day shopping with more money than I started.

After work today I decided I'd take the long walk down to the Silver Snail and cash in that gift certificate.

I enjoy comics but, well, $50 worth all in one go might be a bit much. I might normally get a few TPBs, but their collection wasn't what I hoped. Well, I still did get that, just none of the ones I thought I might. I wanted to get some of the New Mutant Classic collections (since my collection is both spotty and scattered over several boxes), but they didn't seem to have any of them. Since I didn't want to make an extra long trip out there, I wound up just buying from what was available in order to use the gift card and take advantage of the sale.

So I wound up getting:
Psi-Force Classic, Volume 1 (probably the only one they'll release, too. I already have all the individual issues, but I love the old New Universe books beyond rationality, so it's really nice to have an easy place to get the first issues all at once)
Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 18 (the first Immonen one... that's actually a few TPBs ahead of where I left off, but I could never remember exactly which one I stopped on so I thought I'd just get the first one they had that I knew they'd had)
X-23 action figure (with the HEAD OF APOCALYPSE in a 'build a figure')
Age of Apocalypse Sabretooth Action Figure (with Giant Man's foot in the 'build a figure')
Yes, I now own the first 'action figures' I got as adults. I probably won't get the rest of the Build A Figures of either of them. One of the reasons I chose X-23 instead of other options, Mystique or Emma Frost, was because the Head of Apocalypse actually sort of works stand-alone, rather than the mid-body of a Sentinel or some part of Annihilus. Sabretooth I got because he was only $2.99 (and there was a 30% off everything, so I guess that was closer to $2.00), and X-23 needs somebody to fight. Or sleep with, depending on your shipping preferences and theories surrounding the secret life of toys when nobody's watching. But I'll probably pose them in some sort of fighting position.

(I'm not one who believes in keeping them mint in the box. If you own them, they should be doing something).

Also, while I was on a detour anyway, I checked out the address of a bunch of used bookstores in the area and stopped into them on the way/way home. One of these was Bakka, the SF bookstore, that I haven't been in since it moved off Yonge. I didn't get anything there, though. The used section's smaller now, and I WOULD have bought a newer book there, since I like to support the more independent books, but they didn't have any of the few books I'd have bought new, in their non-used section. So, alas, no.

But in one of the 4 or 5 other used bookstores I hit, I did luck out once... I finally got a copy of The Peace War, by Vernor Vinge. I'm actually slightly more interested in the sequel, but I want to read the first one first anyway, and I really like Vinge so want to check it out.

I was also quite close to impulse buying an X-Box 360. They knocked another $50 off the price for Boxing Week for the Holiday bundle. If I didn't have a long walk ahead of me when I popped into the store. Alas, I didn't have the cash on me and it probably wouldn't have been a good idea until I could be assured I'd be getting the full share of the rent from my roommates, something I can never be assured of. :P. Sigh. Maybe next year.

First, happy birthday

escap1974.

Second, Merry Christmas to all that celebrate.

I'm finally done my Xmas stuff, done in two parts. Part one was with the stepfamily, who, due to scheduling conflicts we haven't really seen in a couple years. It was of course the more awkward of the two, just because although I get along with them all, I don't have a lot of common. They're just people who seem nice who tend to ask me all the same questions repeatedly (it's been 5 years since I've been in school, and I've been asked several times by the same people "so are you in school still?". Then followed by the inevitable "so what are you doing/trying to get into" questions. Yeah, if I wanted to share intimate details of my life, I'd have shared them. :P. Like I said, they're nice, but it's a little uncomfortable. Their kids have sprouted right up though since the last time I've seen them. The ones who used to be holy terrors are not just the typical kid blend of cute and annoying. Of course, to balance it out, one of them had a new kid who's just reached the holy terror stage. So, whatever.

Anyway, it was a decent time, less painful probably than I make it out to be. Got some gifts, and had a good meal. Turkey, Ham, Turnips, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Corn, Carrots, cookies (gingerbread + chocolate, shortbread, plus sort of brownie-square thingies), chocolates, chips. Also had this weird "chocolate caramels covered in sea salt" that my stepmother had but hated and apparently I was the only one around who liked them, so they gave me the rest of the box to take home.

Today, did the much quieter one with my Grandmother, Dad, and Stepmom (and brother and his common-law wife of course). Much less stress since I see them all the time anyway, and often in that group. But another big meal. Turkey again (this time with lots of leftovers to bring home), rice, potatoes, turnips, salad, bread & butter, but also lamb, which was a nice change, and a few Tostitos.

Did the gift exchange thing, too.

All in all, we gave (we because my roomates/family all went in together on the gifts):
Gift card to a bunch of different restaurants to my dad and stepmom, to let them have a nice night out together.
christmas candy dish to my stepmom as a "just so it's not only giving you a card", and a mounted poster of my grandmother to my Dad
Water filter + slippers to my grandmother.

I personally gave a Future Shop giftcard to my brother, and HMV card to my common-law-sister-in-law.

Got:
Money
Socks (which I actually appreciate nowadays)
Ferraro Roche knockoff chocolates (taste just as good)
A shirt
A Silver Snail gift certificate.
"The Axe Collection", with a body wash, hair degluer (how do I know if my hair has been glued?) and one other thing I can't remember. If only it all worked like in the commercials, half of my problems would be over!
Pajamas, which I appreciate in sentiment but I can't see myself wearing, since I'm not a pajamas wearer. I sleep on my belly, nude, suspended from the ceiling by a complicated series of ropes. (Okay, I don't sleep like that in any way, except sometimes I do sleep on my belly, I just wanted to give you a bad mental picture).

Not bad all in all, but I'm pleased to have the holiday over with and now there being a whole year to relax until the next time.

About to watch the Who special.

First, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Festivus, Rockin' Belated Solstice, Groovy Kwanza and An 'oh-that's-rather-pleasant' Any-Other-Holiday-I've-Forgot.

I'm done all my stuff, so it's all just chillin' from here. My haul:

1 Serenity DVD (Widescreen, yay, I was worried about that).
2 shirts
1 pair of jeans (needed, too many of mine are ripping at around the same time, I'm starting to feel like Scuzz).
Pack of Socks
Box of Slowpokes (knockoff version of Turtles but they can't use that name due to trademarks)
Junior Mints (so if anyone's going into surgery, I've got you covered!)
'Icy Squares' (chocolaty thing, never had them before)
Fruit gums
Container of mixed nuts
Money
(shared) gift certificates for the grocery store
(shared) box of assorted chocolates

I'm listing things as 'shared' if they gifts were officially labelled to all three of us, rather than just me, but all the food items are basically community property.

Oh, and of course, lots of leftovers. Had turkey, ham, mashed potaters, brocolli, carrots, stuffing, gravy, and not to mention brownies, cookies, chips, shrimp, chocolate, more chocolate, mini-cheesecake tarts, macaroons, more chocolate, veggie sticks and dip, sausage rolls, mini-quiches for appetizers and/or desserts.

Overall, not bad. Nothing at least that I had to feign appreciation for.

Ready for it to be over now though. Boxing Week's up next, have a few things to pick up. The last Dark Tower book for one (finally out in TPB form).