Here's hoping that everyone out there had a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Sorry this comes a bit late, but I needed a break from just about everything... Andrew and I had a wonderful Christmas. We spent it here, just the two of us, in Arlington, VA. I don't have total recall of everything Andrew and I exchanged, but here's the highlights: I gave Andrew a 20 gig iPod and he gave me a 40 gig with an inscription on the back. It reads, "For my dear CrystalShiloh / Love Andrew." We both decided it was time to replace the digital camera I bought back in 2001, a Kodak DC 3400 (which now belongs to my mother). The new camera is a Kodak DX 6490. We also got the printer dock for it and I sent copies of the picture of Andrew and I kissing (see my entry from December 7, 2003) to everyone on my Christmas card list. Andrew's sister gave us some accessories for the camera, among them a 128 MB SD card (we had purchased a 256 MB card when we got the camera, but Andrew also wanted a spare he could use with his Palm Zire 71). She also sent us a camera bag that I picked out and a Kodak kit, containing extra Photo Paper and a spare Cartridge. Andrew got the Indiana Jones DVD box set and I got a blue ceramic bath tub filled with Bath and Body Works goodies. We both received two PS2 games: Amplitude and Silent Hill 3. My mother mailed us some sweaters... My Aunt Lil sent Andrew a vibrating wrist pad to use with his keyboard. She gave me a book on the Cherokee Feast of Days, a metal book mark that says "Happiness" in Chinese calligraphy, and three sterling silver charms wrapped in cute little notes, along with a charm bracelet that fits me much better than my current one.
On Christmas morning Andrew and I made snowflake-shaped eggnog-flavored pancakes. The non-stick molds worked out surprisingly well.
What I really enjoyed most this holiday season was spending copious amounts of time with Andrew... His vacation extended from the day before Christmas Eve until Monday, January 5th. Over that period of time we went shopping, watched a few movies (notably LOTR:ROTK at the Uptown theater in D.C. ) and played video games. We also got a lot of stuff done around the apartment. Notably, we hung curtains in my bedroom and in the living room. We also went through nearly everything we own to clear out the stuff we don't need. Some of it we donated and the rest is waiting in a neat pile in my living room for me to post on eBay. When I get around to posting the auctions I'll announce it here in case anyone out there is interested in Crystal and Andrew memorabilia (just kidding about the memorabilia). We also went to a concert with a friend named Dave from IRC. We saw They Might Be Giants at the 9:30 club on December 30th. We were too pooped to do much about New Year's, but then that has never been a very important holiday to us. I celebrate New Year's at the end of spring semester because over summer break I actually have time to undertake major reforms in my life. Eating dinner out was enough for us coupled with seeing the ball drop on television, speaking of which why is Dick Clark still alive??? Our theory is that he sleeps at night enveloped in Tupperware!!!
Our Christmas tree this year was made out of tinsel. We decided to decorate it with blue LED lights, small blue glass balls, blueberry flavored candy canes, and a few little Hello Kitty ice skating ornaments.
This picture was taken January 2, just before we dismantled the tree.