Zeriel's Journal: I never write here anymroe

And that's a shame.

Christmas was surprisingly relaxing at the Zer household. MrsZer and I joined my parents on Christmas Eve for church (neither of us is Catholic, but it's surprisingly relaxing and candle-filled). Christmas day lunch with them, too. Opened presents, then the relatives came since my dad's idea of Christmas Day Lunch is grilling as much steak as is necessary. Mrs Zer made the baked potatoes, I cleaned up the living room from the gift carnage, and all was well.

Then in the car for an hour to spend the afternoon with her grandparents. Turns out we'd just missed her parents and siblings there, since her dad had got spooked by the potential oncoming rain that never materialized and left very early. So we spent some time with Nana and Pap, opened a few more presents all around, and then called her parents (who, fortunately, live less than 15min from us).

Another hour in the car, then we dropped by my in-laws for round three. MIL always showers us with stuff, which I'd feel more guilty about if FIL didn't make more than three times what I do (he's a full professor at my alma mater). Spent some good times with her parents and younger sibs (both still in high school, and both very good kids and a lot of fun to hang out with) and then to home.

I won't bore you with loot tales, since most of it was the typical "adult christmas" stuff--books, shirts, socks, etc., except for two. First of all, my lovely wife and MIL went in together on a very very comfortable zafu and zabuton (Zen meditation cushions). They're a joy to just sit on in general, let alone meditate on. And then there's my parents. Who got me the best geek present yet.

Low cost Christmas gifts.

[Talinom]

MIL always showers us with stuff, which I'd feel more guilty about if FIL didn't make more than three times what I do (he's a full professor at my alma mater).

One year when I was flat broke, as in unemployed, I decided to dig deep into the brain and see what special gifts I could give people. As all of the males on my dad's side of the family love puzzles (Rubik's cube, wire & string, jigsaw, cast iron, solid aluminum, etc) and also enjoyed the old school text adventures, (now called Interactive Fict [ifcomp.org]

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[Zeriel]

*nods* I tend to go the middle way most years with my giving--this year we're doing well enough to be able to toss $40-$75 to most everyone on the Christmas list, but even then I tend to use higher-priced gifts as an out when I can't think of something people would REALLY want. Lots of good-quality versions of simple stuff abounded, and my wife goes out of her way to knit something personal for everyone in the family (since you just can't buy, for example, a 9'x1' wool Steelers scarf anywhere for a decen