Christmas Day

Microsoft: "You've got questions. We've got dancing paperclips."

Christmas is a wonderful holiday with many good memories for me. I didn't even realize how much I've matured until 3 hours after waking, I remembered I had a stocking. Normally that's the first thing I do on Christmas morning, because I'm going to have to wait until afternoon to open any presents. That's when Uncle John and his two dogs arrive for Christmas dinner. Instead I played speed (card game) for a while with my mom. When we tired of that we started playing hand and foot, a card game that needs 5 decks to play and has four matches per game. I spent all of last night putting the finishing touches on my handmade christmas presents.

Uncle John didn't arrive until 2 in the afternoon. My mom and aunt had been procrastinating with the dinner in hopes that Uncle John would drop by soon. And it worked. We had a lovely honey ham, sweet potato yam mix, fruit salad (yuck), peas and carrots, and broccoli. It was a really good dinner. I even manage to eat two small bites of broccoli! I hate that stuff.

After that it was a while before we managed to round up everyone for opening presents. Jimmy, my eldest brother, pulled a classic last minute gift wrapping.

What I got:
-130 Rubber Stamp Collection from Aunt Kathy
-"The New York Times: The Complete Front Pages from ???-2008" from Uncle John
-2 Egyptian cotton green towels from Dad
-3 books from my brother John
-Watercolor pad and sketchpad from Jimmy
-$25 Barnes & Noble Gift card from Matthew (Cousin)
-Chinese Brush Painting set from Erin (best friend)
-Slippers from Mom
-Backpack/Luggage from Dad

Seems like a lot, doesn't it? But this year I didn't get my bunch of tiny gifts and one big gift like I normally do. Mom and Dad didn't get me one so that they could justify all the help they are giving me for college. I like it better this way.

And now I'm all excited about my new hobby: card making. The rubber stamp collection and my handmade presents helped inspire me. I love the idea of making cards for people. Customized, thoughtful cards.

Edit [Sun, 28th 9:55 AM]; It looks like I saved this entry as a draft instead of posting it. Corrected that mistake.

Lovely 6 Hour Trip

Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils
- Louis Hector Berlioz

Yesterday was not my favorite day for travel. We already knew that the weather would slow us down a lot coming over the pass to Portland, but due to a jackknifed semi we spent about 6 hours traveling. In normal conditions we can make it there in about 3 hours with a lengthy stop at Government Camp to talk to my Aunt and Uncle who own a grocery/liquor store there. We didn't eve do that lengthy visit this time because they weren't going to be there. Man was it miserable to be a passenger! I can't even imagine how horrible it was for my mom, who had no break from driving.

You see we came over in my mom's Honda Odyssey and my brothers Honda Civic, because John (my brother) had to go back Christmas Eve because he had to work four hours on Christmas Day (for $21/hour too, DOUBLE PAY!). My dad drove my brother's car up until Government Camp where John switched places with dad for driving. So John drove his own car, my mom still driving her car, and my dad is in the van with us just sleeping. I can't drive in these conditions because I'm such a scared-y cat when it comes to driving in normal conditions, let alone these conditions.

In a little bit I'm going to head downstairs and finish up John's handmade christmas present. I'm doing a small little drawing of his favorite animal in his favorite color with watercolors. Then I'm attaching it to a piece of colored card-stock centered and into a matching envelope. I'm doing the same thing for everyone important to me. The list goes on: Mom, Dad, John, Jimmy, Matthew, Aunt Kathy, Uncle John, Aunt Judy, and Uncle Cliff. That's just family too. I also want to make some for my good friends: Erin, Mya, Diana, Brianna, Anna, Kea, Priscella, and Xin. I'm going to be late with those, but I've already let most of them know about that. A good lot of them already know I'm late with Christmas presents pretty often. I have a horrible sense of timing for personal projects.

Today was nice due to an iHop breakfast John and I enjoyed. He was kind enough to take me with him for a parent-funded meal. My mom was also nice enough to pick up enough of my extra supplies for making gifts. She has the most knowledge on what I'm doing, but I have no doubt my mom is mentally blocking it in order to enjoy the surprise. She loves to be surprised.

Well, I need to head on downstairs. John is leaving about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, so I have plenty of time.