Hey now,
Shout out to Mumbs! I actually bought a couple of those chocolate oranges for my dad and his fiancee for XMas. BTW my apologies for not mailing out your NSSS claim yet; I have it packed up and ready to go, however. I'll send it out to you later this week.
ANYway, I'll preface my haul with this adorable new member of my dad's fiancee's household:
[img width=700 height=486]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4594/39325529611_d2f6e3e61f_b.jpg[/img]
Now it's time to bore y'all to tears with yet another practical Xmas haul:
[img width=700 height=385]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4597/25456624618_1efc9defaf_b.jpg[/img]
Taking up most of the image above are two bath towel sets, and a bed sheet set. I actually appreciate the towels, as my previous sets were literally starting to fall apart.
Also included are $25 gift cards for Tar-Jay and Amazon, and a $75 Sears gift card. I'd better use the latter ASAP before Sears finally goes kaput... which could be any day now.
Just below the bed sheet set are a couple sets of uncirculated 2017 coins from the U.S. Mint. I get these sets every year from an aunt who lives a half-mile from the D.C. beltway in Virginia, who is a retired FBI fingerprinter. So you better watch your P's & Q's with me, 'cuz I got connections...
The Sharpie, mini-notebook, and Kleenex pocket packs will be quite useful at work. Not pictured is a Yankee Candle car air freshener thingy I'll never use, so I'll just palm it off at work to the first person who wants it. It's just my way of paying it forward...
Out of all the practical yuletide tchochkes I received, however, this one might be the most significant:
[img width=700 height=473]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4592/254566245
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This is the third tape measure I've received from my dad in the last five XMases. This time around, he gave it to me as a goof. Usually he'll give me a tub of Oxi Clean powder as a "gag gift"-- sometimes on my birthday-- but since I bought a fresh tub last month, he had to resort to Plan B.
And now, a few "gifts" I bought for myself, starting with...
[img width=680 height=550]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4727/25457289468_dc500557bc_b.jpg[/img]
This bad boy is an actual fully-functioning Pac-Man arcade game, shrunk down to keychain size. The backlit marquee is a nice added touch.
[img width=588 height=550]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4733/25457289588_dc62e43862_z.jpg[/img]
Now my Knuckles mini action figure can play a real honest-to-goodness Pac-Man arcade game instead of the candy-container prop he was pretending to play:
[img width=700 height=432]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4645/38618353444_0b87fb68b6_b.jpg[/img]
Not that he could tell the difference; this is Knuckles we're talking about, after all.
Best holiday wishes to y'all...
...'Late