Sneaky Christmas

Christmas kind of crept up on me this year... I wasn't feeling particularly festive until last Friday, when I finally started wrapping gifts. :) Anyway, it turned out to be a very nice holiday. I took Friday off, then Saturday my family and I went over to Tita Marie's house for Christmas Eve dinner.


OMG food

We had a fine time eating, telling jokes and stories, listening to Jerry's guitar stylings (hehe), and exchanging gifts. Jaclyn and Herschell stopped by for a while to join in the festivities. All in all it was a fun time. My gift haul was pretty good too:

• Two CDs (Bo Bice, Hootie & the Blowfish) and pillows for my bed, from Mom & Dad
  
• The Life of Pi book from Lori
  
• Hot cocoa mix, peppermint schnapps, Frango mints (yum x 3!) and a Best Buy gift card from Jaclyn
  
• Desk frame from Myra
  
• More gift cards and cash from Mark G, Mark W, and Tita Marie
  

I gave Dad some shirts and pants from the Gap, Mom a Container Store gift card (hint hint :)), and Lori a Barnes & Noble gift card. We gave Lola a basket of toiletries (which she loved), and Mocha got a new leash and chew toy. As a grab bag gift, I got Jerry a card dealer shoe.

We got home around 2am Christmas morning and I slept over at my parents' house. Mocha slept next to (and sometimes on) me and woke me up bright and early to take him outside. On our way downstairs he snuck into my parents' room and jumped on their bed... Mom wasn't so pleased, LOL. Eventually we all got up, had breakfast, and went to 12:15 mass. Mom & Dad got a last-minute invite to a friend's place for lunch but I stayed home with Lori and Lola. Later we all went to Tita Sol's for dinner. The rest of the night and all day yesterday I vegged at home.

And now I'm back at work (sigh). At least it's a short week. I'm taking Friday off again. Not sure yet what I'm doing for New Years Eve. I have always rung in the new year with my family, either at our home or at some friend's party... I think my parents might be hosting a party this year again, but I'm open to other options. :)

Ch-ch-ch-changes

BTW, I've finally decided the future direction of my blogging (LOL)... Details are in this LiveJournal post.

I can't feel my ears

It got up to a balmy 11 degrees here in Chicago today. One more thing I will be thankful for this holiday season is the seat heater in my car. :P

Speaking of the car, I finally got it washed on Saturday. It was about 95% covered in road salt and grime. Apparently many people in my neighborhood had the same idea; the first time I drove to the hand car wash place there was a long line of cars waiting outside the entry door. I came back a few hours later and the wait wasn't so bad. I'm just glad I can see the true color of my car again!

When I arrived at my parents' house on Sunday, Mocha was wearing a sweater, LOL. It was given to him by Tita Cora who used to put it on her dog Richie. Mocha was none too pleased with it though. It seemed to bog him down quite a bit. For instance, he hobbled slowly up and down the stairs instead of sprinting like he usually does. He was so glad when Mom removed the sweater when we got home from church.

Also on Sunday I met Lori's boyfriend (oOoOo) who came by the house with his sister. They went out to dinner (though I guess Lori couldn't eat much since she had just had her wisdom teeth pulled on Saturday). Mocha went nuts when they came in and I was trying to grab him and settle him down, so I didn't get to talk much with them. But they seemed nice in the brief interaction I had with them. :)

Tonight the fam and I went to the Simbang Gabi (Evening Mass, a Filipino tradition around Christmas time) at our church. It was a nice service, but at the dinner buffet afterwards in the church hall there was an extreme shortage of seating and table space. Though I guess that means the mass was well-attended, which is always good.

Only five more days till Christmas! We're having a family/friend get-together at Tita Marie's on Christmas Eve. I still have a couple gifts to buy!

Slushy

We were supposed to get a couple inches of snow today, but apparently the storm fizzled out before it arrived and all we got was some flurries and freezing rain. Not that I'm complaining. It was still kind of damp and raw, and the slushy pavement resulted in lots of dirty shoes and grimy car exteriors. :P

I did some Christmas (and other) shopping yesterday. I got a grab bag gift for my friend/family gift exchange, and some miscellaneous stuff for home and for the new computer. I still have to get gifts for Lola and Mocha. For Lola, Mom suggested just getting her a gift basket filled with the toiletries and medicines that she usually asks me to buy for her... rather practical, but probably wise because Lola still hasn't worn the sweaters that Lori and I got for her last year!

Mom's birthday dinner on Sunday was a success. Everyone she invited showed up and had a good time, and there was plenty of food (including leftovers for me, LOL).

Lori comes home for winter break tomorrow! Unfortunately she has to go in to have her wisdom teeth pulled on Saturday, yuck. Hopefully she'll be all healed up before Christmas. I remember being a bit puffy-cheeked one Christmas after I had my wisdom teeth extracted. Fun times. ;)

Dell Dude, part deux

My new Dell computer arrived yesterday. It's quite cool! </nerd> Here are a few photos of the newbie:



I cleaned up my computer area today too. It's amazing how much random junk can accumulate in such a small space.

I also took a pic of my "minimalist" Christmas decor (no tree this year)...



In other news, I have a cold. :( Hopefully I'll feel better for Mom's b-day shindig at the homestead tomorrow.

There's snow place like home

We had our first big snow of the season here in Chicagoland today. Unfortunately it was still falling at rush hour so the commute home took about an hour longer than usual. It could've been worse though, and I got home without incident, so it's all good. As a bonus, I still made it home in time to make an appearance at my condo building's holiday social. :) I chatted with some of my neighbors and partook of some pizza and cookies.

My new computer should arrive in the next couple days. I'm excited to get it and set it up, but I've noticed that sometimes the pursuit of a new toy/gadget is more fun than actually getting said toy. Thrill of the chase I suppose. :) Well, my last major gadget purchase was my digital camera and I've been really happy with it, so hopefully the same will hold true with the new PC.

Dell Dude

After a month or so of research, I finally ordered myself a new computer last night. I decided on a Dell XPS 200, with dual-core Pentium D processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, and 17" LCD monitor. Merry Christmas to me, LOL. It should be a nice upgrade from the Dell Pentium III that I've had for five years. :P For all the crap Dell gets about its products and service, I personally have had really good experience with them (knock on wood) since the first time I bought from them over seven years ago. Anyway, I am looking forward to the new arrival. Not sure yet what I'll do with my old PC, but I might possibly give it to one of my mom's former co-workers and her kids; I handed down one of my older computers to them years ago and I don't think they've upgraded since then.

Not much else terribly exciting went on this past week. I got started on Christmas shopping for my family. The "Narra Kids" will be doing a grab bag this year, so that means fewer gifts to buy. :) Over the weekend I did a lot of cleaning around the house again. Finally purged a bunch of junk mail and filed away some paid bills and such that were overrunning one of the desks in my office area. I also slightly rearranged the closets in both my bedroom and the guest room (I was watching a Clean Sweep marathon on TLC Saturday morning and got inspired, hee). Also I put up my Christmas wreath and stocking. Haven't decided yet if I'll put up a tree this year.

Funny Mocha story from yesterday... My parents had been missing the remote control for the tv in their family room for a few weeks now. They don't use that tv much except for entertaining so it hasn't been a big deal, but still, it was annoying not to have it. Anyway, I was playing with the dog in "his" room (the computer room) yesterday and at one point he crawled under the bed, where he likes to hang out sometimes. I heard a "thunk" of a hard plastic object rolling around on the floor, which was unusual since most of Mocha's chew toys are rubber and don't sound like that when they hit the floor. So I looked under the bed, and lo and behold! The remote control! I'm guessing he grabbed it and took it upstairs in an effort to get attention at some point, but no one noticed (LOL). Luckily he didn't chew it up or anything. So anyway, mystery solved!