Ghost of X-Mas Past

Back from Christmas, and mostly recovered. Actually, we had a nice time, as usual. I had Thursday and Friday off from work, so we hung out at home and did a little cleaning and sorting (and I spent far too much time trying to scrape old paint off a radiator cover—I know, I know, but I am a perfectionist) and generally relaxed. We went out to my wife’s grandparents on Saturday for Christmas “dinner” (it’s at 4pm, so I can only euphemistically call it dinner). Her grandparents are great, in their nineties but still sharp and fun, and my wife’s cousins and aunt and uncle were also there, which was cool because they’re all in NJ and we don’t get to see them as much as we’d like. The only downside—and the reason we don’t see them that often—is that it took three hours each way: one hour to get from our house to Penn Station, one hour to get out to my wife’s cousins, and then one hour to drive with them to her grandparents (who don’t really live near an NJ Transit station). But we had fun, and caught naps on the way there and back (okay, my daughter and I did), and were home in time to greet my youngest sister when she arrived from the airport. She’s staying with us for a few days before jetting off to Israel with some classmates, and my dad came in yesterday, so we’re having a good time.
Some people like to list their Christmas gifts, but I’m not really big on that (gee, me not tooting my own horn? Shocking, I know.). I will, however, offer the following:
Coolest gift I’d been wanting: Hero on DVD (though Rio Bravo is a close second)
Coolest gift I hadn’t expected: an emergency spotlight/radio/clock that can run on a handcrank. Great gift for a new homeowner!
Silliest gift: the Spiderman CD my sister sent me, which looks like it’s a narrated story with musical interludes. I can’t wait to play it.
And in general I got some nice stuff. I hope the rest of you had a nice time and got cool things as well.