** I added "tagging" to this blog, awkwardly I think. The pesky thing about porting a Wordpress template to Blogger is that it looks like Wordpress, but is still confined by Blogger rules, meaning no category tagging. I resorted to a crass del.icio.us hack - not the most elegant solution, but it'll have to do for now. **
Spent the holidays in Connecticut again. We packed the minivan full of wrapped gifts, food, snacks, suitcases, and zipped down the Interstate eastwards. We heard our hosts got a dog, and were worried that Tweety, the family cockatiel, had kicked the bucket at the ripe old age of 22, but we arrived to hear barking and incessant screeching. Good to see the bird again.
Nothing terribly exciting (other than the Boston sidetrip - see previous post), it was another PG-13 family vacation with a few things of note:
- Every year we have a theme, and this year it was 'Down Under', complete with didgeridoos, aboriginal clapsticks, costumes, and a scavenger hunt, where we needed an Aussie slang dictionary to decipher the clues.
- Jess went to the Bahamas and brought back some local rum. Our eggnogs were noggin' real fine.
- We tried cranberry panettone for the first time, and it was incredible! Can't believe what we've been missing all this time.
- Made our own pizzas one night - a regular chicken and vege, and a Hawaiian. To my surprise (horror?), the in-laws have never tried the latter. Sacre bleu! Unfortunately, after trying a piece, they didn't care for it.
- Got a glimpse of how house-training a dog can be fun and a pain in the butt. Lulu, the new dog (Jack Russell/unknown breed mix), has only been there for 3 months; getting to know a dog can be tricky business (pun intended). One of E's aunt's Christmas gifts was the Dog Whisperer training DVD set with Cesar Millan. We watched the entire first disc (after showing the folks the South Park episode with Cartman - we just had to)... wow. Other than being unnecessarily dramatic and a little far-fetched, it was pretty entertaining. But I'm glad we don't have a dog.
- I tried my hand at pottery for the very first time! Very cool. I loved the feel of cold wet clay; making something out of a pile of mud is a lot harder than it looks. My first pot turned out kinda gimpy, it's definitely not symmetrical but my mentor generously said it's "got character".
First pot!
And since I'm fond of lists, here's another one for my Christmas loot:
- Sudoku puzzles and... a Sudoku Rubik's Cube! *evil*
- Silk Pashmina wrap
- Fresh Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans - just add rum/vodka to make my own extract (neato)
- Fuzzy socks!
- Barbara K toolbox
- Cool pieces of pottery
- Assortment of fancy tea
- Swarovski pendant
- Homemade honey from Jesse the beekeeper
- 2 Haruki Murakami novels in paperback
Hubby went all out this year. The first gift I opened was a Sigma bike computer - spot on. I rattled the next box, which was pretty light... After undoing the tangle of wrapping paper, the package revealed... an iPod Nano! Probably the most overrated and common gift this holiday, but whatevs. Back when MP3 players haven't become a mainstream must-have, I had gotten E the 4th generation iPod. Recently, I've been taking it with me to work, so I guess this was a clue that he wanted it back. :) Just as I was bubbling with joy, E pointed out the engraving he had ordered on the back, and I started bawling. (Okay, so I'm a girl.)
My gift for him was outdone by the wee music stick, but he still jumped for glee - 1GB of extra RAM for his new laptop. I got 4GB of memory, and he got some too. Fair's fair! (Though it was uncanny how we spontaneously got each other tech toys. A pair made in geek heaven.)
Boy's gift to me
My gift to boy
C'est ca, the Christmas line-up. On NYE, we toasted with the Spumante from our trip to the Finger Lakes and played with too many sparklers outside.
Phew. Mighty post, I'll say... so there you have it!
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