This blog has an explanation that goes with it...

Fortunately, the roads were cleared enough so our family Christmas was able to happen on Sunday. Hoorah! The family Christmas has been a tradition for as long as I can remember and it's always nice to spend an afternoon with everyone under the same roof (well, from one side of the family, which is the smaller side). Mom and I drove down and helped the family transport some stuff back to the house while Tess and Steve met them there. Once everyone was there, we prepared a Christmas lunch, opened presents (after playing the dice game), played some games... oh, and I think my grandparents really got a kick out of Steve and me attempting to set up the Wii for them. The odd thought I had was that I was able to spend more time with Steve and Tess over that afternoon than the few days I spent at their house... but I think part of that was that when I was staying at their place, they were working and would come home and decompress on the computer/TV. Anyway, the family Christmas was awesome, I got some sweet gifts (movies and kitchen items made themselves known), and now begins the amazing task of thank you notes. :-P

One thing I almost forgot: the blog's title. During the entire afternoon of the family Christmas, people were forgetting gifts, misplacing gifts, and giving someone a package with the disclaimer "this present has an explanation that goes with it". Even on Christmas Eve, Mom had one of those gifts for Dad. So, I made it a tie-in, if you will.

Over the past few days, I was able to spend some time with some of my closest high school friends... which really, I would have been sad if it didn't happen. Unfortunately, Bemidji didn't have much to offer in regards to a night life (that doesn't involve drinking or going back to individual houses) the night the four of us went to dinner, but it was still nice. Yesterday, two of those three goofballs (I use that term with the utmost affection) and I spent a good chunk together, including shopping at the mall and exploring the nooks and crannies of the Internet while having cats crawl all around us.

I also got to see Avatar yesterday, which was really awesome! It's only the second movie I've seen in 3D in the theaters (the other being Up) but if you are contemplating between seeing it in 2D or 3D, my vote is in that extra dimension. I did hear/read reviews before seeing the movie (I might as well say BEWARE OF SPOILERS here just in case) and while the storyline is streamlined (read: simplistic and yes, I've heard the comparison between "Dances With Wolves" before), I really liked it. I'll just say that if you go to see it, keep an open mind and don't try to make any assumptions based on what you saw in a preview or commercial (since that's what I did and I got kind of confused at the beginning). As a final note, I just want to say that Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang did a great job as supporting characters who both serve as mentors to Sulley: one being the stern yet kind leader who ultimately values harmony in all ways possible (Weaver) and one being the battle-hardened leader who isn't necessarily trigger-happy, but is willing to pull the trigger when the gun's in front of him (Lang).

Today was a longer day than normal since I had a morning dentist appointment. I'm very thankful I was able to fit something in, since the office is normally closed between Christmas and New Year's. My teeth are fine; there's a little staining and the dental hygienist who cleaned my teeth decided to take the guilt trip approach about my lack of flossing. I always get nervous when I go to the dentist, but each time I'm there, I realize halfway in that the reason I'm nervous is that my childhood self had to sit in a chair while every piece of plague had to picked, scraped, and yanked from my gums using a curvy metal toothpick on a stick. Fortunately 90-95% of that is now taken care of by a water blaster (or whatever you call it). (I bet you're so glad I'm blogging right now, huh? :-P) I'm not sure if I'm going to start transferring medical/dental/eye records down to Maryville, but at least they have multiple copies of my X-ray just in case...

I will admit that today felt weird. It's my last day in Bemidji, and whenever people ask me when I'll be back, I can't give them a definite answer. I'm going down to Minneapolis tomorrow to spend some a few days with college friends before I go back to Missouri (including a New Year's "Bonanza" tomorrow night), so I will have some more time to myself before returning to campus. I'm not sure what I'm doing for Spring Break (my current idea is to fly to some random new place, like Denver, for a few days, and then spend a couple of days in a more familiar place, like Minneapolis or Fargo), and I am sketchy about what will happen next summer. I'll probably spend some time up here and in Minneapolis again, but I couldn't give you dates about when that would happen. Anyway, if you're in Minneapolis, I'll be in town until the 4th (leaving that morning, I think), and my schedule is pretty open, so give me a ring or email.

Since I will be on the road tomorrow (and then with friends "living it up"), this will be my last post of 2009. I may devote a post to looking back over the year or decade, as many new stations/websites have been doing recently, but for right now, I need the rest. Happy New Year in advance and I will see you in 2010!