I mentioned before that we did not have any grand plans for Christmas this year.  In the past several years, most of us have gone overboard and we decided to get back to a more sensible holiday.  We would hear stories on the radio, where people getting fresh fruit, cookies and baked goods, or this years pair of new boots.  Christmas was for the family, not the loot.

These days, every year that goes by contains the same headlines.  Which Elmo toy is the hottest, The Nintendo that is never in stock, how many cell phone features the kids need, and which Wal-mart had the deadly stampede.  It’s not the Scrooge talking, Christmas is one of my favorites.

This year was nice, a small (8) person Christmas.  There was a round of a Secret Santa trading game, then our normal presents.  We made a clock out of old bike parts with a picture of Steve on RAGBRAI, some anti-static dryer balls, votive candle luminaries, felted homemade soap, and a few other goodies.  Yes, we also bought things for other people.

Our haul?  Grampy is keeping us safe in the basement again this winter.  Last year he got us an X-Box.  We still play games on it, but I’ve been using it for some HD movies, and streaming NetFlix.  This winter, we have Guitar Hero World Tour to master.  Mason got a couple of games and several Lego sets.  I got Reagan most of a new cyclocross bike that I’ve been scrounging up.  It just needs shifters, new tires, and a derailleur.  We had one of the soup mixes that one of the Boudreau’s sent us for dinner tonight, and pancakes are due soon for a reason to eat that real maple syrup that showed up from another Boudreau clan in New England.  If anyone leaves crumbs, I finally have a new shop vac with all the hoses and nozzles for once.

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