It can be seen approaching for months, instilling fear, stress, fruitcake and large debts striking deep into the hearts of the men and women of the world.
…Yet fall the eve of December Twenty Fifth and lo! A cry! Rising from o’er the plains! Victory! Christmas has been defeated for yet another year!

And what glorious spoils I snared from the battle:

• Logitech G7 Mouse (Alia & Martin)
• Ball of Steel World Puzzle (Alia & Martin)
• Black Apple iPod Nano 4GB (Mom & Dad)
• Salomon Skis bag (Mom & Dad)
• Sevendust – Home, Breach Of Trust – (Self Titled) (Stef)
• $200 CAD (Thomas)

Clearly the most exciting and anticipated gift for me this year was the iPod Nano. I’ve been wanting one of these ridiculously tiny units since… well, the day after they came out. (I was busy on the big day!) 4GB and totally sweet. And while I’m no big fan of iTunes, having various podcasts being updated continuously on there I suspect will be very nice to have… I can think of times when I’m driving and no music suits my mood where talk radio (which is what most podcasts are) that’s on demand and of interest to me would be welcome. The laser-engraving which isn’t entirely visible in the photo reads “Mikey likes it!” and my personal E-Mail address.

In my right hand, we have the wonderful Logitech G7 Gaming mouse, and while I’m not a big-time gamer, this is certainly a fine piece of hardware… and I’ve been desperately needing a nice mouse for my Mini for some time now. It is pretty sweet in Quake and I need to play some real people in death match and see how I do. Sean has the G5, the wired equivalent, and I kid you not – his score doubled when he started playing using the G5, so, f33r my rawkets!!!

Also from Alia and Martin is this puzzle. And this one just goes to prove it’s the thought that counts: they received it as a free promo gift from a supplier, but it one of the neatest artsy/puzzle things I’ve gotten in a while. I’m almost afraid to take it apart, but I suspect it’ll be even more photogenic when I do.

Feeding my Salomon addiction, my parents also give me this (cute?) little(?) ski bag that collapses down to a handbag, but it meant to hold my skis and poles. While red isn’t usually my colour, Salomon gear just looks best in it. I will kidnap their product stylist. You must make all my graphics. Forever.

And since few of my clients feel like paying their invoices on time, Thomas’ gift of 2 bills is well appreciated. And even though the card said it’s to help keep the tank in the E’ full, I think I’ll buy a Salomon ski/snowboarding helmet. I was surprised at Mt. Tremblant last year to see that I was a minority of non-helmetted skiers. I’d been wanting one for some time anyway. ∗insert jab at Chris for calling ’em dumb one day and buying a helmet the next∗

I don’t mean to marginalize the rest, but also under the tree was the requisite chocolate and other yummy-unhealthy-food, books, clothing, restaurant gift-certificates and CDs.
It should also be mentioned that The Element was heavily subsidized by my grandfather, which qualifies as the biggest Christmas present ever in my family… I think.

Of course there’s the complement to The Season of Getting, which is briefly preceeded by The Season of Giving! Under the tree, others in my family found (not just from me) a Laser-level, exercise ball, beef-jerky, CDs and DVDs, a really fancy powerbar, the state of Florida, FM xmitter for iPod Mini, iPod Nanos (for Alia and Stef), iTunes & Chapters gift certificates and much more that I’m forgetting right now. Absent was the Rocketboom T-shirt I’d ordered for Mom. Due to a sizing mix-up (to which SarahBANG! was the beneficiary), she won’t be getting it for a little while, and Amanda couldn’t tell me when for sure 🙁

Christmas dinner was a wonderful turkey feast; fresh 9KG butterball… There were fears it wouldn’t be enough for all 8 of us, but even now, several hours later – I’m still feeling quite sated. And chocolate fudge… [insert Homer Simpson-esque drooling]

It looks like the rain outside has finally turned to snow too. With any luck, the strike will be over at Tremblant soon and I’ll be able to hit that in the coming days. Sean got a Sony video camera and we’ve both got ideas as to making a vlog… It’s not like the Ridertech guys are all that amazing at going down the slopes! He wants to hit Jay Peak and soon… I’d like to get some practice locally before wasting my summer-legs on a real(er) mountain. Chris is up at MSM for the next couple of days… I’d like to get out there, but Alia and Martin are only here till Thursday…

Full-size images of the thumbnails are here in my gallery.