Merry Christmas and Happy (Quiet) Boxing Day

The 25th went by in a blur this year. With Dad here, a thousand tech gifts to set up, and Sepideh, Alec and Ilia coming over, it was a busy day.

The kids were up fairly early. First it was Miranda around 6, and then Ian around 6:30. The big winner was Squeak, who got two breakfasts out of it. Everybody opened stockings, then breakfast and cards, and then finally opening presents.

Tammy did a good job of passing out parcels this year. There wasn’t the usual frenzy of paper flying everywhere. I actually managed to see most of the presents being opened.

There were lots of presents. Technically my rollers were an early Christmas present, so the box was decorated and behind the Christmas tree. Miranda and Ian both got new Apple Watches to replace their hand-me-down Series Zeros from last year. But they both got a windfall from the Esri Canada United Way technical auction. Every year, when Esri Canada is getting rid of older laptops and iPhones, they are put into a silent auction. The proceeds are donated to the United Way. I put in a bid for a laptop and an iPhone 6s. The laptop was for Miranda (Miranda, you’re getting a Dell) and the iPhone would bring Ian in line with Tammy and Miranda, who also have iPhones 6s.

The thing is, I didn’t win the iPhone. On the day that the auction winners were getting contacted, my email stayed silent. I’d under-bid. But there was a winner in the office: Usama had been successful. I heard him exclaim when he got the email: “I won an iPhone 6s. I wonder what I’m going to do with it?” 😞 When it became clear that I’d not won, I approached him, explained the situation, and then offered him more than he’d bid for it. He was very generous, and just contacted the auction and transferred the win to me, and I paid the bid. Ian has Usama to thank for getting his iPhone.

He’s very happy about it. I’ll get him to write up a thank you note for Usama.

Then it was setting up Dad’s new Amazon Fire TV Stick, and Echo devices, and Miranda’s new (to her) laptop before Sepideh and family arrived. We had a great visit. It was very lively. We provided the turkey and stuffing (and wine and dessert), and Sepideh brought yams, brussels sprouts, potatoes (and wine and dessert).

The evening was much quieter. Dad, Tammy and I went for a walk, but almost immediately afterwards, Tammy started not feeling well and was down and out. She’s been low-key today, but then so have all of us.

It’s just been quiet visits today, and Dad and I went for a walk. The Chinese food leftovers from the 23rd were lunch today, and turkey sandwiches were dinner. Dad played Uno with the kids. We’re going to play some more now. I finally got back on the bike after hurting my back on Saturday. I managed an hour of pretty high intensity without pain, so I feel great.

Dad’s off tomorrow evening, back to Victoria.