Sunday, December 21, 2003
An early Christmas...
So, today was a pretty nice day. We usually get together with the immediate family to exchange gifts the weekend before Christmas. This was no exception and we first went off to the Ivanhoe restaraunt for an impressive buffet dinner with my Mom, grandmother, grandfather, uncle and aunt. Lots of good food and I didn't even get around to the main course of ham or beef (a guy stands there and cuts it for you). There was a pretty amazing coincidence in that our landlord and his gf and roomates were there at the same time and at the table next to us! What is the chances of something like that happening?
Then we went go my grandparents' house and did the gift-giving. Last couple of years we'd mainly been giving stuff that was asked for (and still did it this time), but also tried to throw in some inexpensive extras that they'd hopefully enjoy. They were surprised and seemed to like them (including a dog-toy for our uncle and aunt's dog, a Great Pyranese named Gabrielle "Gabby").
One of the gifts was a book for my grandfather called Making Animated Whirligigs. Whirligigs are those wooden creations with arms that turn in the wind. He's made quite a lot of them over the years, and hopefully I can manage to get some pictures of them online eventually. I regret not having spent more time trying to learn woodworking skills from him. I remember hanging around his workshop as a kid and doing some small projects and it was a pretty magical thing.
Getting the book was an adventure in itself. We did 2-day shipping on it to get it here in time, but then it never showed up, despite tracking saying it was left on a porch. It turns out the delivery guy reversed two numbers in the address and delivered it to the wrong place. We waited over a full day and pretty much gave up on it, having Amazon cancel the order but then finally a lady showed up saying she almost never goes by her front porch but was expecting a package of her own and discovered ours! Saved at the last minute..
Oh, and aparantly a flock of wild turkeys passed through my grandparents' yard some weeks ago and they got pictures! There was like 20 of them. I still have yet to see a wild turkey in person, but some day...
Then we went go my grandparents' house and did the gift-giving. Last couple of years we'd mainly been giving stuff that was asked for (and still did it this time), but also tried to throw in some inexpensive extras that they'd hopefully enjoy. They were surprised and seemed to like them (including a dog-toy for our uncle and aunt's dog, a Great Pyranese named Gabrielle "Gabby").
One of the gifts was a book for my grandfather called Making Animated Whirligigs. Whirligigs are those wooden creations with arms that turn in the wind. He's made quite a lot of them over the years, and hopefully I can manage to get some pictures of them online eventually. I regret not having spent more time trying to learn woodworking skills from him. I remember hanging around his workshop as a kid and doing some small projects and it was a pretty magical thing.
Getting the book was an adventure in itself. We did 2-day shipping on it to get it here in time, but then it never showed up, despite tracking saying it was left on a porch. It turns out the delivery guy reversed two numbers in the address and delivered it to the wrong place. We waited over a full day and pretty much gave up on it, having Amazon cancel the order but then finally a lady showed up saying she almost never goes by her front porch but was expecting a package of her own and discovered ours! Saved at the last minute..
Oh, and aparantly a flock of wild turkeys passed through my grandparents' yard some weeks ago and they got pictures! There was like 20 of them. I still have yet to see a wild turkey in person, but some day...
