12_25_2012 Merry Christmas!

Though the weather has been unusually mild (except for the few days mom was here) we got a white and cold Christmas in Boulder. It was 11 when we woke up. Hours later, it was still 11!  The paper said it is a record snowfall for the day as over 6" fell. It's cold, but it's pretty.

And it's warm inside! You can see our standard holiday decorations - a string of Christmas lights. Yeah, they stay up year around, but they are festive.

As per tradition, we start with a photo of each of us. The cat joins in whether we want her to or not. This year, we also have a Christmas Mallard who sings and dances to "Freebird."

Dave, Pente and Christmas Mallard are ready to start opening packages!

Dave's mom sent a box with lots of useful items. In it was a couple of Christmas ornaments. Given we don't have a tree (and never have) they got added to the collection of ornaments that hang on our blinds (you can see some in the second photo posted).  We also got Rudy the Rooster into action with a decoration.

Lots of nice gifts arrived. One was this metal bird from my brother. You can see Christmas Mallard sneaking up from behind...

Doug, Dave's brother, sent a really awesome assortment of tea from Teavana. We drink a lot of tea around here so it's an awesome gift. The mug Dave is holding is also a gift from me...we opened it months ago though. :)

Rachel sent an assortment of goodies. Some of which are shown here. Thanks Rachel!

Rachel sent Dave some dancing water computer speakers. I immediately took them away from Dave and will take them to my office. Dave didn't stand a chance at keeping them. :)

Rachel also sent a roller bag that will be useful for my pack-mule-days to and from the university. This will get a lot of use. The cat will have to stay home though.

Dave opened a gift from me and found some 1942 Don Julio anejo tequila to add to his collection. Beautiful bottle and tasty stuff.

I think cats like gift opening better than anyone. Boxes. Paper. Bags. It's a cat's dream come true.

I gave Dave a second bottle - Milagro reposado tequila. This stuff is in a gorgeous bottle. And it's tasty too. Yum.

Dave got me some playing clothes (climbing pants and headband). Plus, I got some nice hoop earrings and a few other useful pieces.

I also gave Dave some climbing clothes. Not sure what is more fun, watching him open them, or watching him inspecting everything about the garments. These technical pieces are pretty amazing. He eyeballs, stretches, and thoroughly inspects everything! It's pretty fun. I got one winner in terms of fit this year. The other two we'll take back and see if he finds something that fits a bit better. The life of a Marge (Medium/Large) is hard.

Lululemon headband (with new rubber strips - necessary to keep these things from shooting off the back of my head when I have a pony-tail. They shoot off and take out innocent bystanders.) and new earrings from Dave.

And finally, some of Dave's photography framed so I can hang them in my office. Looking forward to getting them up.

This holiday there are some outstanding gifts. Mom's box did not make it yet. And three things I ordered for Dave are back-ordered and won't ship until 4/28/13. So, look for a Part II Christmas blog and a Christmas in May blog.  Happy holiday all! Free Blog Counter