Saturday, December 31, 2011

The Christmas Goodies, 2011 Edition

I thought it might be fun to try to get our entire 'haul' into one photo this year, but it proved a bit of a challenge:


Technically, I think it's all there, but some of the smaller items are probably not visible as they're being obscured by other ones. Still, you can certainly get a good sense of just how much stuff we received!

Here's my best attempt at a rundown of this year's presents:

Vicki - a Natalie Maclean book, cheese grater, sewing box, 2 video games (Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, and Ico), gift certificates to a craft store and a cooking class, candy treats, Game Over t-shirt, special edition of Game Over, necklace & bracelet, puzzle calendar, chocolates, chocolate candle (but don't eat it, the girls tell me!), gardening hand lotion, a book set in Australia (I wonder why?), Lush hand cream, Cooper & Finley coffee mug, The Help (on DVD), leather traveling case filled with Fruits & Passion lotions & potions, gift certificate to a tea store

Matt - 3 superhero movies on Blu-Ray (Captain America: The First Avengers, Thor, X-Men: First Class) from someone who knows the way to my heart, Silver Age Thor comic book (ditto!), Superman watch (double ditto!), socks, candy treats, Peter Gabriel concert DVD (New Blood), several super-comfy t-shirts, How to Fix Everything for Dummies book, Spider-Man body wash, basement joke gifts (mop, latex gloves, stopper), The Story of Math (TV series on DVD), a sleep journal (to help me sleep better), Cooper coffee mug and Cooper photo calendar (from someone who knows my soft spot!), Life Ascending by Nick Lane (book), Moneyball by Michael Lewis (book), Spider-Man hot/cold pack specially ordered by my chiropractor who apparently thinks I'll use it more often just because it has a superhero on it (as if I'm that gullible!... although, on second thought, I mean, just look at it: it has Spider-Man on it!!!!!), Best Buy gift certificate for anything that I didn't already get!

both of us - chips & popcorn (for a Movie Night), Angela's Ashes and Thunderhead (both books), family photo calendar, movie DVDs (Half Nelson, Blue Valentine, Winter's Bone, Vampire Dairies Season One, The King's Speech, Human Planet), Beyond Good and Evil (video game)

Now, with that big a list, it's almost a given that I've missed something. But if so, it was entirely unintentional. We loved every single item we received! Thanks so much to all the friends and family members who made Christmas 2011 so utterly enjoyable, including Tammy who managed to 'gift us' from 16,400 kms away!!

Finally, a couple personal observations. You might notice that the photo is somewhat dominated by a t-shirt (one of a pair) that I had custom made for my brother, Richard, and I. It shows the two of us posing for a studio shot from a long, long time ago (I'm guessing I'm about 4 in which case he would be 13) along with the slogan "TOGETHER AGAIN". This was beyond a doubt one of my favourite gifts to give this year. I was glad to have thought of it, but more importantly I was happy that our lives have re-intertwined such that it was even a possibility.

I was also delighted to find out that the Game Over t-shirts I had made up, which several loved ones received from me, were something that Julie had planned to do, as well. She simply thought of it too late to pull it off in time, and so was going to get one for me for my birthday, instead. Knowing that someone else came up with the same idea validated my own wacky notion. And it was awfully sweet of Julie to have that brainstorm, too.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know whether The Story of Math is any good. Post a review. :)