I hope y’all had the merriest of Christmases or the happiest of whatever holiday it is that you celebrate. I almost put “if any”, but if you don’t have a holiday to celebrate, you need to find one. Just do the Winter Solstace if you’re the unreligious sort.

My folks got back from a cruise the day that we arrived in Delosa, so it was a less festive Christmas than we usually celebrate: no tree, no stockings, no decorations of any sort. That’s in Colosse, anyway. Right now I’m in Bavariana, the eastern part of the state, with Clancy’s family. Clancy, unfortunately, leaves tomorrow for a job interview in Cascadia. Unfortunate that she has an interview now, of course, as we’re happy she has the interview.

My big gift to Clancy this Christmas was a CD/MP3 player for her car. More on that tomorrow. The additional gifts were mostly books. I impressed everyone when it came out that I’d gotten the books several months ago. The fools think that I planned ahead, but in fact I’d bought them to justify free shipping on Amazon.com. That secret will last only until Clancy reads this.

I also got her a booklight. She’s been using a headband flashlight in bed, which is good for both reading and exploring caves, but is a little too light. It wasn’t quite as selfish as a Homer Bowling Ball, but is close enough. Unfortunately, my folks also got her a booklight. Oops.

Where I really went bust with my gift-giving was with Dad. I got him a book compilation of his favorite comic strip, but it was Publish-On-Demand, so it won’t arrive until sometime next week. A before-Christmas rush would have cost an extra $100 on a $10 gift, which we all agreed was a no-go. I also got him a Southern Tech Wolf Pack Riddell mini football helmet to match the University of Delosa one he got a couple years back, but that also didn’t arrive on time. Dad being Dad, he didn’t seem to mind a great deal.

The best gift that we got was the transfer of a bunch of old 8mm folks of me as a baby and a tot to DVD. Clancy adores childhood pictures of me. Aa couple years back she got a photobook, which was a home run. This was closer to a grand slam. Dad’s gotten really good at the gifts since he retired.

No drunkards at the Christmas Eve service this year and again the pews were half-full. After over two decades of church attendance, I discovered that the service goes by a lot faster if you sing the hymnals, read along with the readings, and participate in the prayers. It feels sort of like it did when I discovered in my last year as an altar boy that being an altar boy is actually kind of cool because it makes the service go by quicker.

Christmas lunch and dinner has given me acid reflux like you wouldn’t believe. I know I’m still young in the greater scheme of things, but I miss my young digestive system. Christmas Eve chili was as good as it ever was. We actually discussed the Christmas Turkey vs. Christmas Ham battle and wondered why we’ve never eaten goose before. After Christmas lunch at my folks place we darted across the state to have Christmas dinner at the Himmelreich house with Clancy’s family.. a move that my stomach still regrets because of (rather than despite of) the good food.

Perhaps the greatest Christmas gift I personally got this year was one that I gave myself: Last week I finished my 2006 NaNoWriMo project. By “finished” I don’t mean that no work is left to be done on it, which is what the word actually means, but that it’s at least presentable so I can show it to people. Clancy will actually get to see what I’ve been working on and I won’t have this big cloud hanging over my head, allowing me to enjoy my free time without knowing that there is something else that I ought to be doing.