The Triumph of Crass Materialism

[xifeng]

Because this is a tradition that started in 2001 and because jurhael does it every year, I have to do it too. So without further ado, I present


Christmas Haul 2006
$275 total from my grandmothers
A $50 AmEx gift card from my father
An enameled fancy bookmark from X-chan
A wallet (filled with chocolate coins :D) from m0mmy
A toolkit for the car from m0mmy
Slipper socks from m0mmy
A couple of beautiful blown glass flowers from X-chan (brought back from Prague)
A new hair dryer from m0mmy
A grill pan from m0mmy
A FILING CABINET for LEGAL-SIZED FOLDERS from m0mmy :DDDDD
Roman legionary action figures from dethorats--the educational toys about which I expressed so much trepidation XD
An anachronistic but delightful print, also from Price
Mix CDs from queen_lily_rose and her husband
Another wallet (Vera Bradley, in case anjala was wondering ^_-) from my grandmother
An Applebee's gift card, also from my grandmother
Cards from driley1, angeljuggalette, beldar, augustuscaesar, and ukekenshin; also from M (note to Tara--not your!M, my!M)
H wrote ^____^
[EDIT: Because I forgot things and some of them didn't come until today:
A teapot of my own from m0mmy
A calendar from forgottensanity
A marzipan pig, also from Cat
A Roman coin magnet, also from Cat, who tried manfully to find an Augustus but struck out]
[EDIT to the EDIT: A copy of Japan Unbound from ukekenshin arrived today! :D]


We just grazed on hors d'oeuvres, watched A Christmas Story, and now Mom is watching Pirates of the Caribbean. It turned out that X-chan misstated the size of the living room TV (she told me that it was 19", so I acted on that and bought Mom a 19"; it turns out that the TV is actually a 26"). I told Mom we could get a larger if she wanted; she's not sure.

Hope everybody is faaabulous.

♥

Comments

[dethorats]

I got me some viking action figures. We could totally have a war now.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

d00d, YES!

I also have a Flying Alien Queen action figure. She could be involved, though I'm not sure in what capacity.

[duokinneas.livejournal.com]

Dude. O_O That's quite the haul!

The tradition in my family veers towards giving money, so it's always weird to me to see long gift lists. I like to pretend what s/he gets says something about the person; for example, yours is more practical than most people's I see, and I could draw any conclusions I wanted to here. But I won't. My brain is defunct for the moment.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

It pales before Price's haul. XD

Mine says that I am mantastic, no doubt, or suggests that I am equally of a practical mindset. Besides, draw whatever conclusions you want. ♥

[forgottensanity.livejournal.com]

Yay, it arrived! ^_^ Even if it wasn't much of a surprise anymore. =P And you should be proud, the Roman coin was imported specially from Rome, specially for you! =D

And marzipan piggy can now be ceremoniously beheaded with your samurai sword in order to celebrate the coming of the new year.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

It was? I feel so special now! ^_^

Marzipan piggy was delicious, and I think I put my finger on why I like marzipan: it reminds me of the cookie dough for my great-grandmother's almond cookie recipe. :9 Is the marzipan pig a Danish thing, or did you just choose pigs because you like them?

Alas, I have no samurai sword. Mom said no. My very existence is pain. ;__;

[forgottensanity.livejournal.com]

Marzipan piggies are very, very traditional to make out of marzipan for Christmas. I suppose it's because pork for Christmas dinner is very traditional, too, and then when we started having a lot of marzipan ... Well, I don't know, really. But marzipan piggy you will find in every sweet shop that sells marzipan.

No samurai sword?! How cruel! I'll see if I can't go to feudal Japan next year and import something for you.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

We have pork and cooked cabbage every New Year's at our house. As a kid, I loathed cabbage; I love it now, thanks to the joy of Russian cooking.

Mmm, marzipan. *drool*

Just don't import Ashley the Mary Sue for me, please. O_O The pegasus called Peggy Bundy is perfectly all right.

[forgottensanity.livejournal.com]

But Ashley was my backup plan in case I couldn't find a suitable samurai sword! ;_; Now what'll I do?!

You are so difficult to shop for.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I don't think Ashley is sharp and pointy, and you can't stab things with her. ;_;

I hear that a lot, for some reason.

[tara]

Dude, that's a great haul from the grandmothers! I take it you don't see them a lot *g* Absence makes the heart more inclined to send cash and so forth ;)

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

You're right; I don't. :( My maternal grandmother has lived in the South since I was about 3, so I've only seen her every couple-three years, and my paternal grandmother...well, my father was going to be there, so I tend to stay away from the Xmas bash.

[tara]

That isn't often :( Especially when compared to my-grandmother-who-lives-around-the-corner, although we don't see each other as often as you might think due to our respective mobility issues.