The World Didn’t End, Christmas, and The Evil Approaching 3rd Shift
HOORAY THE WORLD DIDN’T END AND WE’RE ALL STILL HERE!!!!!
This was the primary topic of discussion at work since it was so slow with the upcoming holidays. It ended up being demystified as not quite the end of the world but the start of a NEW world which everyone jumped on the negative train like society always does (thank you communications degree). But overall glad we are all still here. Which means I had to buy Christmas gifts…just kidding I got the majority of my shopping done in November.
Enter Christmas 2012. This year I kinda went all out (for me) and it was super exciting. When I moved in the house in 2011, December was all about fixing things and I didn’t even own a couch yet. The only hint of Christmas decoration I had was the small tree I received on Christmas Eve with some ornaments that Katie and I could wake up to. This year, all of that changed. I invested in some icicle lights to go above the garage and colored lights for the entryway and front door. With a small house I learned you don’t need that many lights to make it look cool, but next year I plan on expanding to the trees in front, maybe do some blue lights on the rock river bed. We used the small tree from last year since it is pre-lit and fit nicely in the living room. Plus that made it look like we had so much more presents…ok we really did have a lot more presents. From all the vacations we took this year and being accustom to home ownership I learned I could be more flexible with finances. After saving so much money for so long I finally had some fun. I didn’t have a train to put out, but I do have one of the Tomy Big Loaders. Its baically a track with a motorized car with different truck tops to carry plastic balls around the set like its a contstruction site…super distracting. Unfortunately it was not working and I didn’t wanna make it worse so I just put it away. But here is a look at everything plus Katie and I on Christmas Eve this year:
As it turns out, even though the majority of our shopping was done in November, it makes December feel that much longer while waiting for packages and sitting on the couch looking at all the gifts. We had to find different ways to pass the time, so here is also what happened in December worth blogging about:
- HOLIDAY PARTY 2012, always a big story. We got all dressed up, Katie got a purple dress so of course I rocked a purple tie. The B-52s closed it out, we played some blackjack and had fun meeting all my friends from work. Here is us from this year’s party:
- Pics with Santa 2012, this is a tradition now for me and Chad…people literally ask us when they get the updated photos.
- I won a Costco shopping spree! We had a contest at work that ran about 6 weeks, my team won and my portion was $500 towards whatever I wanted to buy from Costco. I got a Philips 32″ LED TV/monitor, a few months supply of TP, a K-Cup machine for the rents, a new office chair and a 32 gig USB thumb drive. My battlestation was adequately updated (pending the new Mac Mini which will be here shortly) and the rents got a nice christmas gift.
- Annie and Donny’s holiday party…this was fun. I made a new friend, Ron, who slow danced with me a bit and gave everyone else a good laugh. There were no Snugglers at this party, though I did try adult eggnog for the first time. And it was very tasty. Still like Snugglers better though.
- Battled mall traffic. I feel like it gets worse every year. We did the majority of our shopping online and had it delivered, but for the stuff we forgot or needed to get last minute it was such a pain. San Tan mall literally had a line of cars a mile long waiting to get in and park, Chandler Mall I learned no one uses the Best Buy entrance to get to the mall so it was a lot less waiting there. I was still frustrated so we went to Chompies to chill out.
- Saw some great friends from high school, ate at Mellow Mushroom pizza.
- Saw some other great friends and learned about a great game called Cards Against Humanity. More on this later…
FINALLY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!! We always go to my Aunt Sharon’s place out in Mesa. It was always nearly an hour drive when I lived in Scottsdale and now its nearly 20 minutes from my house and awesome to live close to them. The Polish traditions, family, and the shared love of trying new amazing wines is what makes it fun. I wait every year for the pirogies that are served for dinner among other things. The hot topic of the night was the 2007 Brazin that I guess they got ALL of the bottles from a Total Wine…it really was a magnificent wine (if you have never tried it, stop reading and go buy a bottle, open it, pour a glass, and continue to read my awesome blog). After dinner there was desserts and Catch Phrase…though I don’t think the older crowd really got it. We got home after midnight so “technically” it was finally Christmas. We decided to open one gift each, Katie got one of her special gifts from me and I opened Cards Against Humanity with the expansion pack and holiday pack. This is a game similar to Apples to Apples but for the worst human beings ever. The cards are vulgar, offensive, hilarious, and downright dirty. I don’t think I have ever laughed harder playing a game.
Christmas morning was literally magical. Katie was super happy with the necklace I got her, a mug that has a heart that turns red when filled with hot liquid, a cell phone bean bag chair, a infectious disease stress ball, lots of peppermint mocha, a corkcicle, and gift cards to Charlotte Rousse and Sepphora. She also got a Marshall Erickson shirt that says “Lawyered.” on it from Chad and Tracy which was AWESOME. I got lots of new boxers, coffees, and a Lego VW bus from my awesome girlfriend. Any girl who gets their significant other Legos as a present is literally true love right there. Chad and Tracy got me a remote controlled robot that shoots foam discs from the mouth…this made for an interesting morning shooting le girlfriend while she was baking in the kitchen.
The rest of Christmas was fairly busy…we had 2 houses to go to. First house was Katie’s family. It was wonderful food, especially the mac n cheese Marisa made to be like my favorite brewery Karl Strauss. We gave them some funny message glasses, iPhone cases, and my personal favorite the screaming monkey with rubber arms you can launch at people. Katie thought it was the silliest gift ever when I got it and said they wouldn’t like it…BUT NO…everyone wanted to shoot it at someone! We got a fire pit from their dogs, a Barnes and Noble gift card, and some Starbucks mugs with hot cocoa. Katie got some PJ pants, some wine themed salt and pepper shakers, some lotion and a ginormous blanket for our couch. As if we weren’t worn out enough from this dinner, baking, the previous night dinner and the rush of it all…we still had to make our way to my parents house. We arrived there at about 5 literally ready to take a nap, we chatted with the fam for a bit and then jumped into opening presents. I really enjoyed the gifts I got for everyone this year, especially the k-cup machine for the rents…everyone seemed to flock to that once it was opened. I gave my dad a remote controlled helicopter that can also work from your iPhone as well as a magnetic bracelet (it holds like screws and bolts and stuff when you work), my mom got a crystal engraved bell along with the family stick figure stickers, my brother and sister both got gift cards, gave my grandmother a Chicken Soup for the Soul book, and finally gave the uncles some giant mugs with beer (I’m such a great nephew). In return…I got my sound bar, Apple EarPods, Koss over the ear DJ headphones, a beach blanket, and monies. Katie got a decanter, fondue maker, and more gift cards. At this point its like OMG so many gifts. We got home and literally passed out from all the excitement and an end to a wonderful Christmas.
So really after reading all this, its easy to understand why Christmas is #allaboutpresents
We both had to be back at work the next day, didn’t really get a chance to play with any of the new toys. The weekend came and I dropped my cable since it kept going up and up and got back into the norm of things. Unfortunately, it won’t last for long as I start my next 3rd shift rotation on Friday Jan 4th. To give you an idea of evil 3rd shift, read Night Shift Nights Off. Luckily I have the VW Bus to keep me busy, a new mac to play with and my over the ear headphones to keep me entertained without waking le girlfriend up in the middle of the night. I think sleeping pills may be necessary to force myself to sleep during the daytime but we will see how that goes.
Tomorrow is the first day of 2013, meaning this last year went way too fast and I did not share enough of it. But there are many more adventures ahead that I cannot wait to experience!