See ya' 2008

This is going to be my last update for the year. There's a weird kind of finality to that.

Megan and I drove down to Norman on the 24th to spend the holiday with our folks. After last year's Christmas Debacle of 2007, we declared early on that we would be alternating which set of parents' house we would be staying at each year. Megan's folks got us last year so my folks got to play host to the children this time around. I have to say that everything went much better this time around and kudos to both sets of parents for playing the game correctly and not making Megan or I miserable while we were in town for a visit.

The only Christmas tradition that my family has kept up through the years is driving around on Christmas Eve and looking at Christmas lights. We haven't missed a year in... well, let's just say forever due to the insistence of my mom to go every year. This year was no exception as we piled in to the Kia, which was weird because dad is usually the one who drives, not the kidlings. Anyway, mom only had one stop on her list this year that she just had to see and it was conveniently right down Highway 9 east. Some dude owns some land out there and set up a pirate radio station that broadcast Christmas music that was in sync to the flashing lights on his house. While not original in the slightest (someone else in Norman has done this for the last 2 years), it was a good show and it was nice to be able to see the house ala drive in theatre style due to the large field in front of his house.

We woke up on Christmas morning at my parents' house. Gifts were given and opened and there was much rejoicing.

Megan and I gave:

- To my parents
--- A wine bottle tote bag that is made out of wet suit material that keeps the bottle cold
--- A wine bottle stopper
--- A really, really, really nice wine bottle opener
--- Iron Man DVD

- To my sister
--- New York & Co. gift card
--- The new Britney Spears CD

- To Megan's dad
--- A new polo shirt
--- A gift set of vanilla cognac and glasses

- To Megan's mom
--- Tales of the Beetle Bard book
--- Various lotions
--- Something else that I forget (d'oh!)

Overall I noticed that all four of the parents made out like bandits this year. I commented that it must be nice to finally have grown up children who have jobs. I thought it was really cool that they finally received more stuff than the kids; they certainly earned it, no?

Of course, being a grown up with a job affords me the luxury of being able to buy whatever I want whenever I want it. This fact makes Christmas a very difficult gift-giving occasion for pretty much everyone who wants to get me something since I can never think of anything I want.

I did get some pretty cool stuff this year, though.

- The Shield, season 6
- Weeds, seasons 2 & 3
- A Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000
- New Balance running shoes
- The Bacon Lover's gift pack from the makers of Bacon Salt. It includes 5 new flavors of Bacon Salt, the all-new Baconaise, and bacon flavored lip balm.
- A new LSAT study book
- Assorted OU paraphernalia
- Kung Fu Panda DVD
- A 47" Visio LCD HD television...

Yeah, that last one was a shock.

We spent Friday and Saturday doing random stuff with our families and we came back on Sunday with a car loaded with way more stuff than it had when we came down to Norman. Surprisingly, we got even better gas mileage carrying a full load than we did when the Kia was empty. Not sure about that one.