Favorite Christmas presents

#1:  DH fixed the toilet (more on why the landlord didn’t fix it next week…) so it no longer occasionally just slowly drains, and also so the chain doesn’t get caught on the other thingy leading to constant flushing.  Wooo!  DH gives me the best presents.

DC1 loved this book of brain teasers and this set of really cool magnetic blocks from Tegu.  Oh, and also a sleeping bag from my sister that came early so that zie could use it to go on a class field trip.

DC2 is over the moon with hir batman slippers which will scare bad guys while keeping hir feet warm.  Zie also really loves the Tegu blocks.  Also a pretty nice winter coat and hat.  Oh, and DC2 was super happy with the alphabet gummies that DC1 got for hir.

DH is happy with Terra Mystica and Sky Rim.  He’s also really happy about new slippers.  We didn’t realize Paradise would still sometimes get cold in the morning, or perhaps we didn’t realize that wooden floors are colder than carpet.

Also, I have a confession to make.  This year we took a bunch of the gifts DH’s mom got for DC2 and took them to Toys for Tots before Christmas.  It was weird because she had already gotten them a lot of stuff, and then she visited before Christmas and got a lot more because she hadn’t realized we’d left some toys (that frankly, DC2 played with once last year and then never again) back home, so she went to Walmart and replaced the toys we’d left so the new things she bought would work with them.  When we demurred, she said that we could just throw them out at the end of the year, which seemed horribly wasteful to us.  DC2 has a slightly older same-gendered cousin who is really into something that DC2 could not care less about, but my MIL doesn’t realize that DC2 isn’t into it at all and continues to add to the collection like she does for the cousin.  It’s not cheap stuff either– some of the figures go for $20-$40 (though she also sent several cheaper versions), but not worth if it it’s going to be played with once and then just take up closet/floor space.  Hopefully another child will get more joy from them.

Next year we’re going to make a wish-list for DC2.  It’s a shame because MIL does a really great job picking out things we’d never think of for DC1 (see: Tegu blocks), but for DC2 it’s mostly boring gender stereotyped corporate stuff for shows that we don’t let DC2 watch (because that’s what the slightly older cousin is into).

#2:  Octopus Hat.  ‘Nuff said.

What were some of your standouts this year, Grumpy Nation?

Linkius Loveius

This week, one of us was sick and the other was busy.  Aren’t our lives fascinating???

This person is maliciously crazy in the head.

Lil Bub gives excellent advice.

Once again, Andrew Ti comes correct (esp. in naming Asshole of the Month)

I kind of want a new Visa (don’t love my current card)

This is fascinating.

Matt Damon: Jerk.

A handy chart for comparing babies.

Help renowned author Cat Valente design an award.

Working at a big corporation.

A day in the life of a dad working at Google.

If anybody wants to crowdsource a fund to send this to me in shades of dark purple and maybe some teal… drool…

Reminder:  Shoot us an email at grumpyrumblings at gmail if you want to do a guest post the first two weeks of October.

pretty doggie:

Ask the grumpies: Octopodes

Rumpus asks

You like pictures of octopi. Is there a consideration of buying one? Or is that too expensive, too much work, too cruel, whatever? It creeps me out how well they can camouflage…and that video of one grabbing a shark was freaky. I’m not sure I’d let one in the house, I hear some like to play pranks.

#1:  I do not want to buy one.  They are too smart for me to keep as a pet.  They are escape artists and very curious.  Also, running a saltwater tank is muy expensive and lots of hard work.

#2:  Too much work for me.  Kittehs are about where I’m at.

What do you all think of octopus ownership?