And Now: Thrilling Conclusion of the Gingerbread Saga

And, because it’s a vlog about my family’s Holiday traditions, it’s late. Oh well. Now it’s a Boxing Day present. Or a New Year’s gift. Or just-because-you-are-who-you-are gift. Those are my favorites.

So another Christmas has come and gone, leaving only the traditional fortresses of presents my family builds. When my brother and I were younger, we’d build opposing present forts and battle. This year, Santa brought us foam swords, which we almost broke moments after discovering them. Good times.

We got our tree late this year. We always drive up into the Christmas tree farms in the mountains and hack down our own. Two years ago, I named the tree “Conan” because it was covered in adorable pine cones, and because we couldn’t bear to part with it, or take it out of the tree stand, we left him up all year on the patio, where he dried out into festive autumnal colors. Also, it irritated the heck out of my grandpa, which I suspect was part of my mom’s intentions (it’s not difficult to do). Once we had obtained a new tree the next year (we called it “Coney”), Conan was chopped into pieces and given a Viking funeral on Christmas Day. I found it a very satisfying tree experience, and due to the aforementioned laziness and our Christmas joy, we kept Coney in the backyard, too.

Once Coney had been dismantled and our new tree (Douglas) put in place, we began to hang the ornaments. This is our family’s least favorite Christmas task, because we have too many ornaments and pine trees are itchy.



The greatest of our ornaments, is of course, The Christmas Head.

I think it used to be part of a team of Christmas Carollers, but its Christmas Body has long been lost, and so the disembodied head is first to go up on the tree, and the first child to find it gets the honor of placing it. This year, the honor was all mine.


Notably amusing presents included a sweet Panda hat from Ms. Felix,
a “My Little Pony” Godfather Playset, and a stuffed, sleeping panda, so I can play “Panda-Cam” all the time!

Let me explain, I have been going into serious Panda-Cam withdrawal, since I’ve been without a fast enough connection to fully appreciate/load streaming panda video. But! With my stuffed sleeping panda, I can simulate the experience!

Wow! The Panda is sleeping!!

Oh. It’s still sleeping.

Wait! Crap, it moved. I missed it. Now it’s sleeping again.

Ta Da! Panda-cam, the wave of the future. There’s also a sweet widget for Mac users who need to be one click away from Pandas. Who, by the way, are no longer endangered. They’ve been updated to “protected status,” thanks to some creativity on the parts of Panda scientists. That particular article made my day.

But, enough about Pandas. Onto what Amsterdam’s National Treasure BicycleMark has dubbed “TeagVlog”


Check it Out



Enjoy! Happy Boxing Day!