so this is Christmas...

every year i tell myself


-- matt, buy your presents early next year. do not be an ass and have to battle the crowds on christmas eve like you did this year...and the last year...and the year before that...

and every year i ignore myself.


so there i was again, christmas eve 2007, at the mall. but it actually wasn't that bad. i think i've perfected the art of Christmas Eve shopping now. i got in and out in under 2 hours.

and hey, it's better than giving I.O.U.'s like I did two years ago...

by far the hardest part was trying to squeeze my father's pick-up truck into the parking lot. that thing is GIGANTIC. practically a hummer. and at 14 miles to the gallon, you might as well just call it a hummer.

but my day was a success. my parents throw a party every Christmas Eve. i see the same people every year. answer the same questions every year. eat the same things every year. and you know what? i wouldn't trade it for all the ice at the north pole.

which...according to Al Gore, is not that much these days.

but all things aside, there's nothing like christmas at home. especially when there's a 47-pound home-grown free range turkey getting nice and sweaty in the oven downstairs as i type.

and it's nice to know, even though it was 60 degrees yesterday in PA, far too warm for snow, i'm still gonna have a WHITE Christmas no matter what.

HAHAHAHA. it never gets old folks! never gets old!

Merry Christmas, everyone.