Christmas 2024

 

 

Was nice and relaxing down here in Texas.

 

The weather’s been pretty crappy this week … lots of clouds and rain and temps loitering in the 40s and 50s. Drab and blah. So we spent most of our time indoors. Which is fine, ’cuz it was a leisurely day of laughing, opening gifts, and nonstop eating.

 

I had to work until 4 on Christmas Eve, finishing up December as I’m basically taking the rest of the year off. I was quite frantic and busy, but once I clocked out I seemed to slip into a new, easygoing mindset. We decided to go to 7 pm Christmas Eve mass, and the ladies got all nicely done up as I squeezed into my suit. Once home we chilled and had a salmon dinner. The ladies made some drinks and Little One and the Mrs. and I watched some TV while Patch did her last minute things upstairs in the “apartment.” They all went to bed by midnight but I stayed up until 2 watching videos, listening to music, and playing sudoku.

 

Christmas morning I woke up at 7:30, muttered “Ah hell no,” and rolled over until the Mrs. tapped me on the shoulder at 10. The girls bustled downstairs and we opened gifts, then feasted on my mother-in-law’s coffee cake, and finally watched a Hallmark movie. Yes, barfingly wholesome, but that’s the stage of my life right now. Later on we dined on pot roast, asparagus, and potatoes, then motored around to see some hyperdecorated houses a few towns over.

 

So how’d Hopper do, you’re dying to ask. Ask away. Santa was good to Hopper, as always. I got two gift cards to the local book shop for starters, and I’ll have to think about what I want to do with them. I’m finding out that the older I get the more aware I am of that ticking clock, and the more discriminating I’m getting in my reading life. The ladies also got me my annual Tolkien wall calendar and a 1000-piece Tolkien puzzle. Little One gifted me a Crusaders baseball cap. Patch got me two albums – Handel’s Messiah oratorios and choruses and Symphonies 97 and 98 by Haydn. My collection of vinyl is now up to 45. The Mrs. bought me Geddy Lee’s biography. Geddy’s the bassist for Rush, and I’ve been a huuuuge fan of his for almost 45 years now. Very exciting to delve into that; it’ll be my first 2025 read.

 

I did fairly well in the gift-giving department. Since the Mrs. and I try to spend more on the girls than each other, and I sprung a lotta dough to buy her birthday gift in October, we decided to keep it low-key this year. I bought her a Dr Pepper t-shirt and socks (it’s who I work for in corporate, and she mentioned her lack of Dr Pepper swag earlier in the fall), and two gifts for her newest infatuation (the Dallas Stars) – a hockey rulebook (what is icing? what is the difference between hooking and spearing?) and her own wall calendar featuring our NHL team dressed all dapper. Little One got a hoodie and socks themed with her favorite TV show – Law and Order. And Patch got the most random gift from me: a black t-shirt of an octopus preparing sushi with all eight arms, complete with the Japanese bandana across its forehead. To help normalize her Christmas, I also gave her a Starbies gift card 😊

 

(And, of course, the Mrs. showered them in makeup and skin-care and Ulta gift cards and all those other things so dear to the hearts and minds of 16- and 20-year old young ladies. She bought Little One two “teachers dresses”, and I positively glowed with pride.)

 

All-in-all a fine, restful holy day. The ladies are all out thrifting today, and I’m working on finishing my current read, Arrowsmith, in the quiet peace of the house with only the dog keeping me company.