The whole break was pretty chill. I spent most of the week before Christmas just lazing around recovering from exams, although I also finished up my Christmas shopping and baked a bunch of Christmas cookies.
On Christmas Eve morning, I got together with my friends from home to do our annual gift exchange. My secret Santa donated a flock of chicks in my name through Heifer International, which I thought was a really excellent idea. After the exchange we played a few board games before all going home to spend the day with our families.
I went home and helped mom make supper, then in the evening we went to visit my grandfather. We don't really have a lot of Christmas traditions any more, but our Christmas Eve is usually pretty much the same. We visit with my grandfather for a few hours. On the way home we drive through town and then take the scenic route instead of the highway so that we can see everyone's Christmas lights. When we get home we have a glass of egg nog and watch whatever classic Christmas special happens to be on TV (This year it was Scrooge (the 1951 version)).
For Christmas I got a new camera, and a few clothes, and a ton of chocolate. I also used the Christmas money I got from a few of my relatives to buy a new iPod. Both my old camera and iPod were over 6 years old, so the sudden technology upgrade is kind of incredible.
My brother got home on the 27th, so then we had a smaller second Christmas for all the presents to and from him. He got me Munchkin, which is one of my favourite games and I've considered buying it for myself several times, so it was nice to have it for myself and be able to introduce it to my friends who've never played before. His flight got in pretty early in the morning, so we still had the whole rest of the day after that, so we went to visit my great-aunt, did a little shopping, and went out for dinner.
On New Year's Eve my family always has fondue for dinner, which is one of my favourite meals of the year. It's delicious, plus it's a nice slow meal, so you appreciate each other's company more rather than just sitting down and stuffing your faces. One of my friends always hosts a party, so that's how I spent my New Year's Eve this year, as usual. He has three younger sisters between the ages of ten and twenty, and all four kids have friends over and usually a bunch of their aunts and uncles are there too, so it tends to be a little crowded and crazy (they also have a hyperactive dog, and five cats, which just makes it even more ridiculous), but I think New Year's Eve is better when there are lots of people. We played a few board games, had some snacks, and then it was time for fireworks. Their firework displays are always pretty impressive; they seriously must spend a few hundred dollars on fireworks every year. I love fireworks. After that there's always a glass of champagne for the adults and sprite for the younger kids, and after making a few toasts and talking a bit about the past year and the new year and everything, we all head home.
I didn't really make any New Year's resolutions this year. Usually I do. Last year I had a whole spreadsheet of resolutions, and they were all specific and measurable and everything, so that I could keep track of my progress and make sure that I actually did them instead of giving up after a month like I usually do. I guess it helped somewhat, since I didn't give up until April. I don't know. This year I just don't know what to resolve, I guess. I'm not sure what direction I want to go. I guess my resolution would be to actually do things that I want to/mean to/feel like I should do, instead of just saying I'm going to do them and then being too lazy.
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