It's finally here! It's here! It's Boxing Day!

(It's also St. Stephen's Day, but let's set that aside for now.)

First, a Joke Family Boxing Day Tradition: The Post-Mortem and Appraisal of Gifts.

I made out so-so, pretty much dead-on average. A couple of "hey, cool!" gifts and several "huh? what?" beauties, and one heartbreak gift. The latter was a beautiful sterling belt buckle that doesn't fit my belts! (Waaaaah.)

NOS scored like a muhfuh:
Electric scooter (waiting for assembly--Santa doesn't assemble, y'see--and battery charging was torture for the lad),
Blue Man Group keyboard (it wouldn't be Christmas if some ostensibly well-meaning person didn't give us some migraine-inducing toy)
National Geographic (It's official!) metal detector
Robopet/Robosaurus/RoboGuy. Oy.
GameBoy games.

NTS also managed to get his own bad self a Leapster with seemingly every damned cartridge, and a guitar, and a bunch of DVDs and three or four educational toys which I am trying to block out, because were I him, I'd use them in Very Inappropriate Ways in retaliation.

TFBIM got a sterling frame that, er, framed the paperwork of her soon-to-arrive Etceterini. And some pearls.

In other Christmas news, nobody got into a fistfight. However, my niece decided to take her brother's Nerf gun and shoot (no, it wasn't an accident) her mother point-blank in the eye. So, my BiL and crew had to spend Christmas Day in the Emergency Room*. As you may recall from previous discussions, the niece in question is due for a severe disciplining, maybe as severe as a scolding.

After this, we repaired to my sister's house for what is nothing more than a continuation of Christmas Eve dinner with the Unusual Suspects in attendance. Fortunately for me, NTS was good and ready to bail out way early and so, I sacrificed. This meant I spent the evening chilling with NTS instead of witnessing the Festival of Arts and Letters. So THAT was supah-dupah good.

I hope you guys made out well, as well.

-J.

P.S. I'll be doing your meme soon, bb.
P.P.S. Only TWO more days until we loiter with Poppy et Cie.

* Seems it's only a moderately scratched cornea, so relax.