“It is the duty of every citizen according to his
best capacities to give validity to his
convictions in political affairs.”

- Albert Einstein

Part 2 to my previous post: do you remember how the Red Ryder Air Rifle for me was a laptop? Well, I betcha can't guess what happened on Christmas morning!

I woke up at about 6:30, but since I'm not one of the mean kids who
will jump out of bed and immediatley run into their parents rooms to wake them up no matter how tired they are, I stayed in bed until I heard the shower start in the Reverend Mother and The Old Man's room, which meant Reverend Mother was awake (There was no telling if The Old Man was awake or not). I waited a bit more until I heard the door to the Mall Diva's room open. I then jumped out of bed, eager to begin the stocking ritual of the morning. I then found out that MD didn't think we should go into the Reverend Mother and The Old Man's room yet. So I waited till I heard the shower shut off, then I ran down to grab the stockings while MD knocked on the bedroom door. We entered at The Old Man's grunt of "Who is it?" and sat down. Mom wasn't out of the bathroom yet, so we (surprise, surprise) waited.

After a bit, Mom came into the room, and we began opening the stockings.
Here is a list of what I received in my stocking:

A bottle of Jones Fufu Berry Soda from The Old Man
A necklace from MD
Chocolate
Reeses Pieces from Mom
A Candy Cane from Bonita
A tweezers from Reverend Mother

We went downstairs, but we didn't unwrap presents yet. Mom had to make
coffee first. There was a present for both me and MD, then 5 presents each for both of us. MD and I decided to open the present for both of us first. Dad said, "That's from 'The Old Man'," which gave me a clue as to what was inside. MD took one side, and I took the other, and we shredded the paper. It was (dramatic pause) a box!!!! I opened the box and inside was a

LAPTOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh joy! I was sooo happy. I was sitting there with my mouth hanging wide
open, and MD was grinning wildly. Then The Old Man said, "Now we have to
figure out a schedule for you two to use it," and MD said, "I know this is more for Tiger Lilly than for me."

We commenced opening the other presents. I got:

A Dream Pillow that is supposed to 'reduce stress, induce sleep, and
heighten dreams,' from MD

A scrunchie from Reverend Mother

An outfit from Bonita

Crest teeth whitening strips (Mom claims that I asked for those, just not for Christmas.)

And a book that I unfortunately already had. I also got a bead bracelet maker, and a gift certficate for Michaels.

Later the family came over. There was feasting of goose and turkey, gabbing and more present opening. My cousin told me that he got "Factions" for Christmas (the second part to a game that I love called "Guild Wars"). He is sooo lucky. But hey, he didn't get a laptop! He gave me his compound bow and arrows for Christmas. This year was the best Christmas ever, with one flaw. Mom was sick. She stayed in bed all day, except for the present opening. Of course she came down for that. It's nasty to be sick on a holiday like Christmas, but she's feeling much better now.

Ciao for now, and Merry Belated Christmas!

How many of you have seen the movie A Christmas Story? Well, I just saw it last night for the first time (I know, it's shocking), and I'm going to blog about what happens at our house around Christmas time.

Christmas lists
About a month before Christmas, the phrase around our house uttered by the Reverend Mother is, "Kids! Get your Christmas lists written!" I always get mine written right away, but MD and Bonita have trouble getting theirs together. I wonder why....

Wrapping gifts
It's a family tradition to wrap presents in Reverend Mother and The Old Man's (a.k.a. Mom and Dad) room. So as we all vie for wrapping space, the words are, "-family members name- don't come in here!" But after the hustle of shopping and wrapping we come to:

Presents
You remember that Ralphie wanted a Red Ryder Air Rifle, right? Well, my Red Ryder Air Rifle is actually a laptop computer that is perfect for playing computer games on. But, instead of it being "You'll shoot your eye out," it's "That's way too expensive." Tthhpptt. Maybe 'The Old Man' had one as a kid....

Concerning the Christmas tree.
When we get a Christmas tree, we let it sit around for a few days before putting it into its little stand and watering it. It's like the tree must face 'The Challenge of Dryness' before it can become part of the décor before it gets thrown out six weeks later.

Family from out-of-town
My Grandma lives in Oklahoma, so she stays at our house when she comes. An aunt and uncle and 2 cousins also live down there, so they will come to live at our house as well. But not this year, because they are going somewhere else.

Leg-shaped Lamps
We don't have any leg-shaped lamps, thank you!

And, finally:

Christmas Day
At last, the blessed day has arrived! As soon as MD and I wake up, we bound out of bed and run downstairs to grab the stockings off of the fireplace. Then we run back up the stairs to the Reverend Mother and The Old Man's room and open them. We bask in the glory of the Sacred Stocking Stuffers, then run down stairs to the tree. MD and I will fish presents out and give them to their respective owners, then we organize a little. We'll take turns opening one present at a time, savoring the moments.

After the wonderfulness of opening presents, we rush to shower and clean the house, because the family is coming over! (They always come over to our house because it's the biggest.) Around 1:00 people start arriving! We eat lunch, then more presents! After all that, my cousin and I will run downstairs so he can play on the computer (he doesn't have any cool games of his own, so he uses ours).

I don't have a weird aunt who thinks I'm 4-years-old and a boy, so no weird pajamas are in the present boxes. Thank the Lord for that!

Ciao for now!