Christmas

Let me start off by saying that I felt more overwhelmed this Christmas than any I remember (solely because I was actually Christmas shopping in stores as opposed to online like the last 3 years) by the obsessive materialism that takes hold of people and drives them to flip the bird and snarl every time you look at them. Dana and I talked some about this phenomenon that I don't remember being as repugnant even 10yrs ago. It actually made me very put off by the whole holiday and resentful that I even had to buy gifts. Am I materialistic?...sadly, yes; but witnessing the full force of American materialism coming at you from every direction is shocking. I was shocked!

That was a tangent (can you intro with a tangent?) and actually what I sat down and intended to blog about were some of the sweet gifts I received! Ironic, eh? Well, fortunately my family (including those of the extended variety) are quite sensitive to those things that give me some satisfaction. My mom gave me a Magellan RoadMate GPS system. I really don't like getting lost and with the move to a city where I've never driven, this is bound save me a great deal of hair pulling!

Regan sent me a humidor/cigar combo. I really love the smell of a new humidor with the crisp cedar fragrance filling that little treasure box. It is really nice to have a second humidor because there are some cigars that I like to age and it is best not to age them together and to have a separate humidor that doesn't get opened all the time. It is currently holding my small collection of Habanos.

I got some other great gifts: money for keyless entry, CI gift card (already used!), but really I just enjoyed being with family (my grandma is hillarious - think hookah pipe and a sub-machine gun...but I promised I'd keep the pictures off the internet) and sitting outside in a T-shirt. Merry Christmas.