Post-Christmas

So we're coming out the other side of the Christmas season and I must say, it's one of the better ones we've had in some time. This is our first Christmas actually in the new house (last year we went back to Newfoundland), so we've been enjoying that. Plus, we're not back in Newfoundland. I say this not to insult family and friends who would probably like to see us. However, the reality is when we got back to Iqaluit last January we were dead on our feet. Completely wiped out.

This year, we've spent most of Christmas in our pjs. I am perfectly all right with this. Perhaps we should be out socializing and hitting parties, but I am happy lounging around the house, eating turkey, watching movies and scaring the dog with the toy helicopter that Cathy bought me as a gift.

So yeah, this is a good Christmas. It's getting a big thumbs up from me so far.

We probably also went a bit overboard with the gifts. Last year that wasn't really an option, between having just bought the house, being back in St. John's and me being in-between jobs. It was pretty austere. We kind of made up for things this year, as you can tell.

The only gift I gave Cathy that flopped was a pair of red rubber boots which do not fit. They were bought in Ottawa back in October, so I'm just going to have to eat those. Oh well. You would think I would know better than trying to buy shoes. However, my attempts at buying her clothes were a hit. I recommend Coldwater Creek. The shipping wasn't evil and as a man trying to buy clothes for his wife, they made it pretty painless.

We're still....struggling a bit with Cathy's main gift for me. She went and got me a Bose soundsystem to go with the new TV set. The problem is, it's not playing well with the TV. It's a new Samsung TV and I think the Bose system might be a little older. It works fine with the small TV in our spare room, so the problem isn't that. I think I might need a different cable, so I'm going to try the Source tomorrow, unless someone has a suggestion here that might help. I may even have to resort to trying to call Bose and ask for help. I really like their stuff, actually. We have an iPod dock from them and we each own headphones for our iPods. It's fantastic quality so it's a bit shocking this isn't working easily.

There was one other thing. I'm a big believer in that you should treat yourself to something nice for Christmas. A couple of months ago I contacted Jimmy Gownley of "Amelia Rules!" fame and asked if he had any original art he might be interested in selling. He did. And on Christmas Eve, it arrived. I've already had it framed.

To the right is the cover of the latest "Amelia Rules!" book and I now own the original art used for the cover. Which makes me very happy. I am slowly building a nice wall of comic book art in our den.

Although this article makes me wonder. With more artists switching to using a computer, original art is becoming scarcer.

Anyway, it's been a good Christmas so far, and I still have two days off to enjoy it more. Tomorrow I think we're doing a Pixar marathon. We own all of the movies except for "A Bug's Life". I think that, turkey and chocolate is a good way to spend the day. Better than facing hordes in a mall at a Boxing Day sale...

Last Five
From Surfer Blood's "Astro Coast" and Mumford and Sons "Sigh No More".