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I got off work early for Christmas eve. Woo! For some reason I felt like crap, but I managed to get all my presents wrapped (though I admittedly threw Nick's into a gift bag. I didn't bring enough wrapping paper up to my room, and my Mom had stolen the tape).

I woke up Christmas morning around nine and made my way downstairs. The Sisterly One is in Manitoba, having Christmas with her fiancee and his family, so it was just me and my parents for Christmas morning.

After bacon and eggs, Dad pulled me aside.

"You didn't wrap Mom's present!" he admonished me. By this, he did not mean my gift to Mom. Oh no. HIS gift to Mom. I don't know why, but I'm the one that always ends up wrapping his presents for her.

"Well, you never gave it to me, did you?"

"It's in the trunk of the car."

"Oh, there is NO WAY I'm going out there. It's snowy and cold and I still feel mildly crappy."

He finally went out and got it. He gave her a flat screen monitor for her computer (the old one was dying a slow and painful death). Since it's rather difficult to sneak a 19" monitor around the house without other people noticing, we counted moving the monitor from outside the house to inside the house as it being unwrapped, and the gift giving part of Christmas began.

Just before Christmas, Mom and I had watched Paris When It Sizzles, which is about a screenplay writer and his typist writing a movie together and falling in love. So I bought Mom "Alex and Emma" which is about a novelist and his typist writing a book together and falling in love, and "Music and Lyrics," which is about a pop musician and his lyricist writing a song together and falling in love.

Are we beginning to notice the theme, here?

For Dad, there's even more back story. When the Sisterly One and I were kids, we had a program called Santa BBS. That link actually links to the magazine article which we got the program with. Anyway, back in the day Dad filled out the "Santa Survey" as a lark, and he put down his favourite show as "The Muppet Show." So I bought him the first season on DVD.

I got socks (I needed socks! All my socks have holes in them!) a copy of the new J.K. Rowling book, and a forty dollar gift certificate for Chapters. Woo hoo!

Then my Aunt and Uncle came over (that's my Mom's brother, just so we've got things straight) and we looked at photos from my parent's 6 month RV trip to Alaska while eating my Mom's meatballs and various other tasty treats. But the best part was the meatballs.

Around 3, Nick came to pick me up (he also got meatballs), I grabbed Nick's present and Mom loaded me up with wine and chocolates as hostess gifts and we went up to his Grandparents' place for Christmas dinner.

At my family, when there's a gathering we usually sit around the kitchen/dining room table, or in the living room, and we chit chat, maybe play a trivia game in teams (I am the trivia QUEEN). With Nick's family, people are everywhere, there's about three different conversations going on, the youngest are either eagerly showing me pictures or movies of Nick as a kid in hopes of embarrassing him (never happen) and there's even the possibility of head injuries and trips to the emergency room.

Okay, that last one only happened once at Thanksgiving. It was an accident, the injurer is very sorry and the injuree thinks it's funny. The point is, comparative chaos.

It's FUN!

Then we got to the presents. I was greatful for the wine and chocolates that my Mom had sent me with, because I got loaded down with presents. From Nick's parents I got another Chapters gift card (books galore for me!), and his grandparents got me pyjamas, slipper socks and a pair of very fancy leather gloves.

From Nick, I got a gorgeous silver necklace and a matching silver bracelet. The bracelet's a bit too big, but with cunning I have shrunk it down so it fits. Nick was very fussy, worried that I wouldn't like them. But they're perfect.

I never buy myself jewelery, unless it's for a costume. But, to paraphrase Love Actually, these are not something I need, they're something I want, something pretty. I love them.

I bought Nick one of the Tim Horton's china mug sets- one that came with a travel mug as well. His brother threatened to steal the china mug. Not happening.

Hmm, my paragraphs are starting to be only a couple of sentences long. I guess I'm running down. Stay tuned (maybe- I never seem to write the second parts of stories) for visiting with the other side of Nick's family, and Boxing Day at my house with my Dad's brother and the accompanying Aunt and cousins.

Feelin' a little:

festive