Christmas, Round II

 

Taking a hiatus from yesterday's festivities, my girl and I took some well needed time to sleep in this morning, not getting started until around 9:30. When we finally got around to waking up, we started the day off with a delivery of breakfast, and enjoyed that with our coffee, letting the day rev up before diving into our second round of Christmas.

We did go ahead and let the dog open a box of toys, but mostly because they were packed in a comic box, which I desperately needed to help transport the many comics noted from yesterday's post upstairs.

For those of you who read my Christmas Traditions post the other day, what ensues next is a perfect example of the chaos that I mentioned about Christmas day as a child. Presents flying everywhere, with the whole extravaganza done before you know it.

We let the dog romp around on the floor for a bit, making a mess with all the stuff and fluff before deciding to open our presents. Even then, before we got started, we ran interference on him with a holiday dog treat.

With the dog content for a moment, we separated our gifts out from under the tree and took turns opening them. I'll spare you the details of what she got. They are boring girly things.

As for me, I got some really great stuff!

Can't go wrong with Moose Munch. I love popcorn with chocolate and caramel on it, or s'mores. As I sit here typing, I'm fighting the urge to dig into it already.

This is one of those items I didn't know I wanted or needed (or even existed) until it was in my hands. As someone who suffers from chronic pinched nerves in my right shoulder blade, this will be wonderful to have and use.

This C-3PO case was actually a final gift from my brother, which remained under the tree from last night. It has all the tabs, as well as, the insert sheet.

Mark Bellomo's The Ultimate Guide to Vintage Star Wars Action Figures 1977 - 1985 will be fun to thumb through here and there, even though my figure collecting days of the series are relatively over. I know I keep kicking around the idea of getting all the Droids and Ewoks figures, but I don't honestly think that will ever happen.

By this time in the present opening, the dog was in full on pouting mode because he realized there was nothing else for him to open.

I on the other hand still had quite a few gifts to open, which I happily continued to do. Three such items were things I saw in passing one day, and made the comment of how cool they were. I then proceeded to forget about them. My girl on the other hand made a mental note, and surprised me with these great Fallout related items.

While I don't own any Fallout related collectibles, the game series is by far my all time favorite to play. There's just something about roaming the wastelands that I find intriguing and appealing. Maybe it just brings out the collector in me from all the stuff I hoard in my various settlements.

I also got a handful of comics, which fill in the very small gap of issues I'm missing in the 400's of The Amazing Spider-Man, and the slightly larger missing issues in the 100's.

I'll also mention at this point that I received another ebay gift card. This time from my girl's eldest daughter. I have a very generous amount of funds to use on some items, and while I initially was going to purchase an Ultimate Fallout #4, the first appearance of Mile Morales, after much thinking, I decided that deep down I really didn't want this particular book for the sotry, but more so for the event it contained within the pages. In a moment of being honest with myself, I decided that I would be much happier with filling in more of the gaps of issues in the Amazing Spider-Man line within the Peter Parker era I'm actually reading, than buying an expensive book which would simply sit in a comic box. So that's what I'll be looking into over the course of the next few days.

The last item I received was the newly released Freddie Mercury Live Aid version from S.H. Figuarts. As a massive fan of Queen, this one went to the top of my want list as soon as I found out about it. Admittedly, it's a bit disappointing that the only thing S.H. did was change the clothing the figure was wearing. Other than that, the heads and accessories are all the same from their previously released Wembley 86' version.

With that, Christmas 2020 wrapped up very nicely, very generously, very well spread out and a ton of fun. Even after spending the past two days celebrating the holiday, I'm admittedly a little sad that it's going to be another 363 days until it comes back around. But, it was enjoyable, and I have plenty of things to spend some time with to keep me well occupied.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Christmas, Round I

 

After being confined to staying home for 3/4 of 2020, I made the decision for my girl and I that we were making Christmas BIG! With how crappy the majority of the year has been, I was not closing the year out on any form of subpar level. It just wasn't going to happen on my watch.

We both started our day with listening to / watching our respective selected Christmas day services. First and foremost, we wanted to recognize the day for what it means to us - The birth of our Lord and savior.

The dog started his day by informing us that his patience was over. He showed this by snatching a rawhide bone from underneath the tree. He then spent the next thirty minutes chomping on that, but apparently wasn't done. From there, he returned to the tree and promptly grabbed a toy from underneath it, proceeding to obliterate it.

As for us humans, I made a small breakfast for my girl consisting of crispy scrapple and coffee. I, on the other hand, opted for a bowl of Mandalorian cereal with almond milk. In terms of cereals, it's not the best I've ever had. It tastes like Kix, which if you've ever had them, you know they're relatively tasteless. This was somewhat saved by the mildly fruity flavored Grogu shaped marshmallows. For what it was worth, it did the trick.

From there, the phone calls and texts began to each of our respective family and friends. We also did a FaceTime video with her youngest son and his wife, where we watched them open up all of their presents. I gave my girl her stocking, which she opened on screen with her kids. I then took the opportunity to sit back and just relax with a cup of coffee. I also got a surprise ebay gift card from her kids.

The plan for lunch was to have some turkey breast and bacon sandwiches, so around 10:00 I went back to the kitchen to start putting this all together. They turned out pretty good, with all the fixings being nice and fresh. No, that's not mustard on the bread. It's cheese I baked into the top, while toasting it in the oven.

 

As I baked the turkey in the oven, I was happy to see that it had lightly started snowing. It didn't last long, and it didn't accumulate, but it was just nice to see the snow on Christmas day.

After we ate a relatively early lunch, we tried watching Pixar's Soul on Disney+. As the movie played, I opted to open up my stocking items, receiving a new pair of ear buds and an array of candies. If you can't tell from the photo, I'm a big fan of coconut and marshmallow based treats. My girl also gave me a very unexpected $100.00 ebay gift card, and perhaps a hint with the two-pack deodorant. Hmm...

I'll spare you the details of what happened next, but when we came back downstairs, we got a call from my brother, and took turns opening the presents he sent us, and him opening what we sent him. 

No, not all these packages are for me. They're for my girl, the dog and me. Despite what my brother says, he loves that dog. And, yes. The dog opens them himself.

As for me, I got the uber rare misprinting blue Lizard error of McFarlane's Spider-Man number one, a massive arcade stick pre-loaded with 4,000 arcade games, and the Game & Watch Super Mario Bros.

The dog was getting a little greedy at this point, thinking that every package being opened was supposed to be for him. He stuck his face in everything as we unwrapped the items.

After wishing my brother a Merry Christmas, we decided to pop Wonder Woman 84 on HBOMAX. The movie was actually pretty good. During it, I stepped out a few times to start dinner. I made us a prime rib roast, mashed potatoes and creamed spinach, all from scratch (much like lunch). For those of you who don't know, while I love to collect toys, my biggest passion is actually cooking. I love making food for people.

After a hearty meal, and finishing the movie, my girl asked if I wanted to open the presents under the tree. After thinking for a moment, I had to take a knee and admit that between cooking and the day itself, I was actually really tired. She said she was too, and we decided that we would leave the wrapped presents under the tree for tomorrow. There was no reason to pile on for the day, when it was already such a full day filled with good food and the items we already received in our stockings, as well as, from my brother and her youngest son.

While we didn't open the wrapped gifts, we decided to open the brown boxes which were under the tree. These weren't necessarily Christmas gifts. Rather, they were ebay items I had picked up over the past couple months, which rather than open when they arrived, I just threw them under the tree. These contained runs of three 90's Spider-Man series, The Sensational, Unlimited and Chapter One. I spent the next hour rebagging these on the couch while listening to random episodes of Bob's Burgers on Hulu, finishing up by fighting to stay awake to write this post.

But now, it's definitely bed time.

I honestly don't mind postponing opening the Christmas tree gifts until tomorrow. I wait all year for this holiday to come, and don't really see the need to wrap it up as quickly as possible. I'm totally fine with spreading it out a few days. With how exhausted I am, I know that I'll enjoy it more tomorrow than cramming it all into one massive day. Sometimes it's nice to just take your time and treasure the moments.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.