ah yes, it's christmas time here. something about christmas and gift giving really brings out the funny, funny moments in the family. well, i'll do my best to recount a few of them here...

1. my brother was gifted a ronald reagan 2004 calendar. i didn't know such things existed, maybe my dad ordered it off the fox news website. anyhow, i was about to open a calendar shaped gift, and sarcatically said "geez, i hope it's my very own reagan calendar." to which my mom replied, "it's your own john dean calendar" to which my brother replied "howard mom, it's howard." and my mom admitted that the democratic candidates were all over her head. (although commenting later that lieberman is her favorite if she had to have one. when pressed she said it's because he is the one who has changed his policy the least over his campaign, then admitting that he is the most conservative.) more to come...

2. i was excitedly gifted a 'learn to knit kit' from my grandma, which i have been really looking forward to. of course, i sat down immediately to figure out what this whole knitting this is about. so far, this is what i have learned...
a. i have learned that i will not be able to learn how to knit based on a few drawings.
b. knitting seems like fun, but there is no way i am going to figure it out on my own.
c. knitting near a kitten is a challenge. i like yarn, and so does said kitten. the kitten also really, really like the shiny knitting needles.

3. we have already had our first christmas gift casualty. someone was given an m & m mug, and the mug is already broken. i was in the other room when it happened, but it had something to do with a dog and one of my silly family members.

4. i know own 4 complete sets of drinking glasses. all completely bizarre and sentimental in their own way. this is the set i got today from my very happy father. he thought i might like them because i liked the craziness of the 'slanted glass set' i inhereted from my nana (ie one set of glasses that i own). not to mention that i took the entire set of glasses from my house upon departure back to new haven. well, just like they always say, a girl can never have too many glasses. but if you look at these glasses (the roly poly glasses) they look really, really easy to knock over, and so knowing me (and my infinite grace) it's probably not such a good idea!.