Heh yeah thanks again for mine too, Flack. I guess we'll alternate years since I sent one last year but didn't this year.

I only beat you by a year then -- I think 2014 was the first year we ever mailed any out. And don't kid yourself, those things have estrogen all over them.

Aardvark and Flack, thank you for the Christmas cards.

My goal is to send them out for the first time in my life in 2015. That is a goal.

GF got me clothes. Parents got me fire safety stuff for my house. GF's dad sent me a surf shop shirt and random surf magazines.

Bought myself:
Pacman DX on Steam
MYFAROG RPG book

Still need to buy myself:
Newer, larger internal hard disk
New video card

Boots
Shit-ton of books
Baking stuff
Dried serranos
Wine + champagne glasses
"Learn Czech" software, because the 47th time will be the charm

Art Prints (2)
Jersey Knit Bed Sheets
Tasteful Cardigan
Tickets and Hotel Accommodations for the Asheville Beer Fest (Jan 24)
Gift Card (Brick Store Pub)
Gift Card (World of Beer)
Gift Card (Total Wine)
Gift Card (Hop City)
Gift Card (Wrecking Bar)

My thirteen-year-old son had the Christmas all of us (at least the geeky ones, which I think is all of us) wished we would have had at that age. He got an Arduino developer kit, a Pebble watch, another watch that tells time in binary, and a "Makey Makey" which is a USB interface that connects to a breadboard and uses alligator clips to enable to to turn pretty much anything into a USB interface (the example has someone using a banana as a gamepad controller). Mason has already made a gamepad out of a piece of paper and some small bits of aluminum foil and it currently wiring it up to a toy drum kit to create drum triggers for some music program.

I got a Pebble smartwatch. My wife got too much stuff for me to bear talking about. I just want this damn holiday to be over.

Gifting IS a concept I take part in, except I have no close relatives, no friends who live close by, buy myself more or less everything I want throughout the year (or just splurge on Black Friday) and usually drink through Christmas.

(I also do not have a tree, no decorations and at most sponsor a child for Christmas.)

Am I allowed to count the beer I bought myself? Had a few really good local brews (ale, cider and IPAs) throughout the day.

How many of you read that and figured it was Retro.

Nothing. The whole gifting on Christmas concept isn't actually a thing here :-P

Case of Boylan's Grape Soda
Shoes
Underwears
Jacket
Robe
Breaking Bad t-shirt
Breaking Bad throw blanket
Aliens stuffed Bishop
Huli Huli sauce
Panini press
$20 Steam gift card
Some other shit, who can remember...

Blessed holiday to all.

I got my gal's nephew this Lego set. It's of Captain America, the Red Skull and a Hydra agent. The Red Skull has a tank or something and Captain America has a motorcycle.

I love that the Red Skull is one of the Lego dudes now. Fuckin' badass Nazi so reprehensible that most other bad guys think he's scum. Ages 7 and up!

I got Melissa (and I) ticket to see a play: How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I've never seen the cartoon / movie. It was impossible trying to keep a day of hers free in secret. She was going to have us get together with friends. She was trying to get me to watch the 1966 original movie all week. I finally had to enlist Roody and have him fake up an email to say that he was driving through California and wanted to visit with us tomorrow. :)

As for the stuff that I received... well, I'll tell a story. I had been keeping my work laptop up against my chest, between my body and jacket when I rode the motorcycle into work. I did this enough times that I forgot this arrangement. A few weeks ago I got off the bike, stood up and saw the laptop fall to the ground.

It damaged the power connector. I mean, that's *right* where it hit. Our IT guy, who's great, fixed it, but.... well... Melissa got me a messenger bag big enough for a Macbook that I can use when riding. Score!

It was a good year for Star Wars stuff. I got a Darth Vader suitcase, a large-size Darth Vader Pez Dispenser, a Darth Vader LED light, an R2-D2 coffee mug, and the new large scale X-Wing Fighter (roughly 2 1/2' x 2 1/2').

I also got some random odds and ends like a LEGO luggage tag, a USB wall socket, Scott Ian's biography, and a Yie Ar Kung Fu arcade marquee that was converted into a cloth painting. I'll bet no one else got one of those! Finally, I got a few weird things from the local halloween store including a devil baby and a telephone that says scary things. I told my kids they could do all my Christmas shopping during Halloween and they took me up on it. Perfect!

A new door knocker to replace the one I had to leave at my last house.

You go first -- I'm still making my list!