it's like christmas exploded!

I have:

1.) hooked up the xbox for Child. He is playing Pure, since we need to do a serious rearrangement of the game room to facilitate online play.

( okay, this went off-top )

My fantasy life always involves a shopping spree at Frye's, really. Fabulous vacations and superhot men wearing leather pants only work for me when they're helping me pick a router set-up and murmur hotly in my ear they are master electricians while holding miles of ethernet cable.

2.) The fire truck pedal car is built and awesome. As it turns out, I accidentally picked out a really durable all-metal model with wooden ladders and that sucker will last. Niece 2 and Nephew fought over it and it was glorious. BIL did the assembly becaues he got new tools for Christmas and looked as us all pathetically until we let him have the truck to play with. He was so happy.

3.) Bouncy horse is not assembled. Reluctantly, he and my sister and co went to Christmas with his brother's family, but his toolkit stayed here, in anticipation that we will be overcome by post-Christmas laziness, which is pretty likely.

4.) I got my Mom a Flip Ultra Camcorder and as it turns out, she loves it--we all love it. It's not that I am scared of multifunctional things--see my G1--but seriously, would it kill progress if some things don't require a complete reading of the owner's manual and a training course to use? So far, for ease of use, I'd recommend it--the set up is super fast (set date, set time, set language, and we're off!), it has five buttons, the record button is huge and stuck in the middle, and flip out USB, so the only extra cords needed are if you want to hook it directly to the TV. It comes with batteries, but grab some rechargeables and an adapter and you're done. My dad, who is not either a huge fan of changing technology or one who likes to use it was playing with the Flip as soon as he found an excuse to pry it from Mom's hand. Since his birthday is in March, if he seems to really enjoy it, I can grab him one too.

I'll check the video quality when they're done playing, but honestly, unless it's grainy or impossible to see, I love this. Fact--yes, awesome camcorders that record in 1080i/1080p with digital sound are great, but that shit I am not taking to the beach (water! sand! air! my warranty!) or to visit friends, and if I have to renew my acquaintance with the owner's manual or google for tips on how to make it work every time I pick it up? I am never going to use it. I had a samsung camcorder and learned to hate it in like, a month.

So far, I approve.

The living room is awash with toys and games and books, and everyone's settling to gloat over their stash and share it with others. We're making prime rib sandwiches for lunch if we feel like moving, and no one is taking off their pajamas to save their life. It's a very, very good day.

To everyone who celebrates it, Merry Christmas, and to those who don't, Happy Holidays or have a wonderful day.