Starbody

there has been some crappy news lately (in fact, a revision to the end of year survey i took in a previous post. someone did die). and just today a little more bad news. but i am choosing to pretend that didn’t happen to focus on the lazy, present-laden Christmas we just spent with my sister and Heff.

the festivities began Thursday with ice skating at the Highland Ice Arena where i remembered how much i loved to skate. a few years of figure skating and many years of pond skating has carried me into adulthood with the ability to spray you and then skate away … backwards. that’s right. i was glad i kept my figure skates (although had somewhere along the way lost my hockey skates) to avoid the numbered, rink issues gray skates.

on Friday, my sister and Heff came over with bags of treats. she made chex mix and a salad while i whipped up some hot artichoke dip and homemade gnocchi directly from Jacques Pepin’s book. while the gnocchi didn’t work out exactly as planned, it was still delicious with the salad. we basically spent the day eating, drinking and playing video games followed by present opening. Mark bought me a ring from Tiffany’s that i had admired a couple of years ago, an accordian and Halo 2. yep, i said an accordian. it’s a miniature version painted a bright, shiny red. i have plans for that little accordian. Mark made out as well with a Prada dress shirt, a Swiss army watch and the Lord Of The Rings DVD set. the dogs feasted on crunchy presents from their favorite pup boutique Bark. They snacked on huge crunchy salmon shaped cookies, liver lips and much more. somehow my sister managed to find a blue, squeaky, rattle-y, Hannukah bear named Chewy for them as well. other gifts included a Cuisinart mini prep (red to match my other kitchen gadgets!), an extra controller for the Xbox, DVDs and books. Lovely, crisp, new books!

and just when you might think this story is over, there are six huge moving size boxes of presents sitting untouched beside my tree. why such incredible restraint, you ask? well, i believe my mother’s exact words were, “Open those presents before I get there, and I’ll kick your ass!” they don’t arrive until next week and so we are having Mardi Gras Christmas all week! as i understand it, there are still presents arriving from Mark’s family as well. hurray for procrastination/snail mail! i personally like a nice drawn out bit of present exchanging.

and all i have to do is make it through the week. hope all of you had a nice Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, Festivus or whatever you choose to use as an excuse to buy/receive presents. just kidding. well, sort of.