Although Christmas has came and went, I think what I enjoy the most about the holidays is that it’s never over until the new year arrives. At least with my family…

This year, I feel fortunate enough to admit that everything I got for Christmas was complimentary. I really didn’t need anything at all, but the fact that I was able to spend it with family the entire day, as well as receive some practical gifts, made it all the more meaningful. I’d upload all of the pictures, but I’d rather not search for my camera and upload them all at the moment. I may edit this entry at a later date to supplement the writing with some pictures, though.

With my family, we usually exchange wishlists on Thanksgiving, so it’s never too big of a surprise when we receive things that were on our list, however… Mom decided to surprise dad with a brand new Nook tablet. Apparently, he is always consumed with hers because he likes to play tower defense games on it, at night. Needless to say, he was quite shocked by his gift and felt very blessed. On his list, he had quite a few car parts and other “manly”/tool related stuff. One of which was a tire pressure guage. He has a ton of those cheap mechanical ones, so I decided to think outside of the box and bought him a digital one. It came with an LED screen so that he can read it easier, and there’s even an LED light at the tip, so that he can keep track of the mouth of the device.

Mom is always the toughest person to really shop for. I believe the biggest present she received is the gift of a brand new laundry room. Dad and Kara plan on buying some new flooring, cabinets, and a washer & dryer for her. Interestingly enough, last year, Mom’s gift was also a brand new downstairs bathroom. It took a couple of days, but it was definitely quite the change from it’s original.

As for my sisters, they were fairly simple, as was I. I was very content with all of the things that I received which included a shirt for wearing to the gym, a winter/shell jacket, and a slew of art supplies that should last me the rest of the year.

In other news, in about five hours I have quite a few friends coming over for our second annual “Secret Santa” festivities. I still have quite a bit of cleaning to do before they arrive, but I’m definitely excited. We had planned to do this last week, but ran into a snag when one of our friends was stuck down around Mount Shasta, due to inclement weather. Apparently Interstate 5 (I-5), a major freeway, is capable of being shut down due to inclement weather. I can’t say that I’ve heard about a freeway shutting down before, but I guess that goes to show how severe it must’ve been.

Also, beginning tomorrow grandma and Caroline will be in town to help us with our annual preparation for New Year’s Day. We’ll probably be heading over to Anzen’s either tomorrow or Saturday, in order to buy some of the necessary ingredients. Then we’ll start prepping the sashimi, inarizushi, yakisoba and hand rolling the rest of the sushi. There are a lot of other things that need to be done, but that’s plenty to think about as it is. So, as my title described, the holiday season is not done yet… I’ll do my best to post pictures of our New Year festivities, when the time comes.

I hope you all had a phenomenal Christmas (and/or holiday break)!