Holiday Recap

I hope anyone reading this had themselves a nice holiday. Mine was enjoyable, I'd say it started for me on the Wednesday before Christmas with the Bullcrank Christmas party.

It was about an hour's drive and we got lost along the way, but we eventually found the place. Due to some miscalculations regarding the door to the house and my wheelchair, the party was moved out to the garage, which was surprisingly enjoyable. It was really nice just hanging out with the whole crew, chit chatting and watching Aaron's new short film.
A lot of the gang has been a bit down lately, so Larry secretly cut together a video to rally the troops and showed it at the party. I gave him a hand with some animation for it. It's funny, I wasn't even present for most of the stuff in the video and it still makes me sentimental. You can check it out here.

Corey drove in from Pittsburgh on Thursday, so we chilled out several times throughout the weekend. We had ourselves a big Christmas-time game night on that Friday, the last one with the whole gang for a while as Brendan moved down to Florida this weekend for an internship at Disney World. He'll be down there until August. Not a bad gig, eh?

On Saturday night, Eric and Aaron visited along with Corey for a bit before they headed out for a night of barhopping. Aaron was the hero of the night, letting us have his old TV to replace the tiny one we've had standing in for our broken one.
Sharon visited on Christmas Eve and then Corey swung by for a little Madden football and a couple episodes of Trailer Park Boys.

Christmas morning was nice, everyone seemed to be happy with their gifts, I know I was. You can't go wrong with CDs (Gnarls Barkley, Regina Spektor, KT Tunstall, and Our Lady Peace), DVDs (Justice League Unlimited: Season 1, The Chronicles of Narnia: Extended Edition Gift Set, and Short Circuit- also, Corey got me Over the Hedge and The DaVinci Code), Superman stuff, and iPod accessories.

After unwrapping, we ate and Kris & I played The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, courtesy of Brendan and Mikey. A little bit later, we were off to Granny's.

It was a good time hanging out with everyone there and just relaxing. I'd have to say the highlight of the night was Jeff messing with Aunt Karen. He broke out some classic word play and wrote down "I am sofa king wee Todd did" and had her read it out loud. It was hilarious listening to her read it over and over until it finally sunk in. The moment of realization was priceless.

This Christmas was nice, but it felt slightly...off. Everything we did was 100% Christmas, but for some reason it didn't really feel like Christmas. I can't quite put my finger on it. Even so, I did have fun and I hope you all did too.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Well, it's been quite a day in Jacobland. I woke up just before noon and watched the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I basically turned it on just in time to see Santa's appearance, which seemed a bit awkward to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Santa fan, Christmas is my favorite time of year, but the big guy didn't look well. He's always been a jolly old soul, but today he was extra jolly, I couldn't tell if he was HO-HO-HO-ing or if he was having a seizure. He was convulsing as though Rudolph rebelled and rammed an antler in an uncomfortable place. Santa, take it easy, you've got a busy few weeks coming up. Drink some tea or something, dude.
Anyway, if you're interested, I'd like to share a bit of my day with you all. My family and I headed over to Grandma's house around 2:00 to help her get everything ready. Everyone else started showing up around 3:00, the holiday fun begins. It was then that I met my new cousin, Faith, for the very first time. I know people say this about all babies, well, most, but she's just the most adorable little thing. She's got the biggest eyes and the cutest wild head of hair. Except for when she first got there, she didn't even cry, and even that was short lived, as if she was just briefly taken aback by all these new faces. It was so cool watching her eyes as they explored the room and studied everyone's faces, all of this information for her to take in. I couldn't help but smile as she looked at me with such a curious gaze, most likely wondering who I was.
Everyone gathered at the tables, 17 people in all digging into the holiday feast. Turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, a bit of applesauce, pudding, pumpkin pie...I'm still full.
I told my aunts, uncles, and cousins of my recent adventures in Toronto and Niagara Falls, they all seemed to enjoy it. My cousin, Jacqui, told of her internship where she'll be spending a semester working at Disney World. It's just so crazy hearing these stories, watching my cousins and realizing how much everyone's growing up.
As the day wound down, group by group the relatives left to go home or visit other family. As Uncle Joe and family left, my Aunt Mary brought little Faith over to me to say bye. As Faith looked at me this time, she gave me the cutest little smile, as though she had studied me enough and approved, she then cooed the cutest coo as I nuzzled her.
Mom and I headed home from Grandma's shortly after midnight, time just disappeared. It was a great day.
So, you may be curious, what am I thankful for? I'm thankful for family and friends, old and new, those who have just arrived and those who have passed on. I'm thankful for all the incredible things I've seen and experienced this past year. I'm thankful for the opportunities that have presented themselves to me that will hopefully grow into even more wonderful experiences over the next year or so.
Until next time, cheers. :)