Christmas Bells are Ringing... on TV.

This Christmas has been great! I got way more than I ever expected or wanted for Christmas, and I have so much to be thankful for. This past year has been a crazy one, with what I believe to be nearly dying, loosing most of my hair and the rest of the madness that went with getting as sick as I did, I was a lot more in-tune with what Christmas means (sad, I know).
I was pretty bummed that for the first time in the last two years I could finally go to Grandma Jean's in Big Bear for the family Christmas but it was canceled due to weather. Though I missed G-Ma's, Lucas and I got to challenge the Martinez girls to a grueling tournament of Cranium. After the three games they game out victorious, but we were able to beat them once, a feet mere mortals have still been unable to do. Then Tuesday, Mar and I went to dinner with Kyle! We had Mongolian BBQ and watched GOLTV. We later exchanged gifts, Mar and I got Kyle Glenn Beck's book An Inconvenient Book, and he got Mar a cool Andy Warhol Jackie-O purse and this cool book called Infidel. Afterward we went back to Kyles house for some nerdy political talk and some FIFA 2007.
The next day was Christmas Eve with Mar and the fam which was just as great. There were lots of laughs, and Angel made the best enchilada's I've ever had. I got some "Clean" clothes and some pretty "Fresh" gifts. The best part was seeing everyone's faces with the gifts they got. I don't know why, but I looked forward to this the most, I don't know if it was the fact that I didn't have much money this year, so I tried to make sure the gifts I got were good ones, or just because I was more in the Christmas spirit. I was so happy that Mar liked her DS Lite, it was way hard for me to keep it quite and not tell her, especially when ever she would say how bad she liked Darlene's or when we went into the video game section at Target. Don't get me wrong though, I got a ton of great gifts myself! Here's what I scored: Some super comfortable Guitar Hero Pajama pants from Angel and Mario, Two nice sweaters from Momcella (one blue and one brown and white striped), James and Kristen got me the new Fall Out Boy album Folie a Duex as well as an awesome Gap cardigan (black and grey), Marcella bought me a sweet (RED) shirt (which i'm currently wearing) and a Jedidiah shirt which was stoked to get because I haven't seen any of their stuff in a couple of years. She also got me Scrubs season 7! I am now complete as James would say. I seriously got so much great stuff it was awesome, I didn't deserve it.
Today we celebrated Christmas day Hamilton style! We started off by watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and opening our stockings. My mom likes to give us candy every year, and this year she was sweet enough to get me candies that wouldn't kill me... basically no chocolate. I got Sweet Tarts, a box of Sour Jelly Belly and Life Saver's Gummies. I also got a pair of Wii sleeping shorts, and some chapstick. After stockings we moved right on to gifts, the dogs got their individual stockings with bones as well. I got Pushing Daisies Season 1, slipper socks, two pairs of Dickies shorts that I wanted (Khaki and Black), a huge Bob Marley poster/banner, Pajama bundle (Shirts, boxers, and pants) and a gift card for Target. My dad also took my Nixon watch in (without me knowing) and got the battery replaced, got it cleaned and a new band put on it.
As we all played with our new stuff in doors since it was raining, Mom cooked dinner. We had delicious Honey Baked ham, stuffing, Yams covered in marshmallows, brocolli, and baby potatoes. After dinner, we lounged for a bit and my dad suckered me and my mom into a game of Monopoly (which most people know, rarely does the game end on the same day it was started). Finally we all got restless and decided end the game when I had the brilliant idea to do something i've been wanting to do for a very looooong time. The videos are below enjoy them. As for me i'm done. '08 it's been a tough one for me, but the next year holds lots of promise, i'll be attending CSUSB (hopefully) and also i'm believing for a good solid new job. I plan to spend more time with family and friends as well as readjusting my priorities (more about that in time). Sorry if I went crazy with the links but it's fun for me. Until next time, good luck exploring the Infinite Abyss.

Is the 'Good Life' better than the life I live when I thought that I was gonna go crazy?

For some reason, there's been a few events that I've been thinking a lot about lately to hold on to hope.

1. "I'm back to Vegas cause I always had a passion for flashin'"
   > When I was young, it seemed like our family had this tradition of going to Las Vegas for a weekend when ever one of us kids turned twenty-one. When I turned twenty-one, we did not do that. Don't get me wrong, I had an amazing twenty-first birthday and I am extremely grateful. However my cousin Lo-Lo's older brothers both had there's in Vegas and now it's her turn. I have been wanting so badly to go for the past year, and I have no clue why, but I am a bit afraid i'm getting my hopes up for nothing.
2. "Now my grandmama ain't the only girl calling 'BABY!'"
   > Though working at the church was great for so many reasons, they have this obsession with Jesus' supposed "birthday" (sarcasm for you who didn't catch that). This is completely understandable, however, this often resulted in me working the weekend before and the weekend of Christmas. My family also has this crazy tradition where the whole family spends the weekend at my Grandma's in Big Bear the weekend before Christmas. I have missed out on this tradition for the last five years. This seems like it'll be the first year in a long time I'll get to re-experience the drunken UNO games, the wild LCR games where winning $30 is better than Vegas, and the possibility that it will snow and on the way home my cousin will once again rearend my uncle.
3. "Having money isn't everything... not having it is."
   > This one is kind of weird. For one reason, I'm starting to realize that money is becoming the most important thing in my life. With the growing desire for material things, money is starting to become my mammon. As I continue to look for a better paying main job or a possible second/night job, my dad keeps trying to get me to become an entrepreneur and start a cleaning/childcare business. Don't get me wrong they're good ideas, but I don't have the time or energy to put into that kind of a job right now. Money just seems to be a big issue right now. I think for the first time it's actually taken an effect in my life. All I know is that by the time I get a new truck/x-terra, I will have paid off the balance on my credit card, and have a steady enough job to pay for car payments and school.
   

Apparently the weights of this world have started to show through. My parents and Mar continue to ask me why I seem down or distant and to be honest I don't mean to let it show, It's just a very odd time in my life. I've never been in a situation like this. Immediately after high school I had a job and i've kept steady well-paying jobs since then, while always keeping $1,000+ in my savings. Now that that cushin has been deflated, I am forced to depend on GOD for my provisions. While He does miraculously continue to provide for me it's something I'm not used to.
Well that's it for this update of life in the Infinite Abyss, until next time, good luck.