So, While I Was Gone There Was This Thing Called Christmas. . .

And it was mighty dandy, thank you very much. I got to eat my fair share of stuffed behemoth bird carcass, spend beyond spectacular time with those I love, and got to witness Summit attempt to open his wrapped gifts. The last one was incredibly cute and has been documented via the video camera. And speaking of gifts, I got my fair share as well.

My wife continued her reign of awesome gift giving by delivering to me a Walter Payton Chicago Bears jersey. If you're a Bears fan or have any notion of NFL history then you'd have a really good idea of absolutely how many kinds of awesome this gift was. It has already been worn several times, and I will definitely be outfitted in it on Sunday when I root for the Bear to maul the vile Green Bay Packers (as a Bears fan, I must on principle detest the Packers -- any Packer fan would understand and return the sentiment to the Bears). Now, if you don't know who Payton is, or why I'd want his name on my Bears jersey, then I'll just let you know that he is basically the player that caused me to become a life long Bears fan and even care about football in the first place. You could say, he's the Sweetness (and many do, since that was his nickname). Oh Payton, you're missed.

My 'boys' also got in the great gift giving spirit as Crosby bestowed upon me a Star Wars calendar. But not just any Star Wars calendar, but one that contained several classic Star Wars movie posters including the original Revenge of the Jedi poster (which was the initial name of the third film before Georg Lucas realized Jedis don't take revenge thus called it Return of the Jedi instead). But yes, this poster has caused me to erupt into full geek out mode on a few occasions. As it combines my love of Star Wars with my love of history (of pop culture). Summit joined in the gift festivities by handing out some slippers. Though I suspect he bought them for himself and he has already 'played' with them a few times before I get up in the morning. But I've needed slippers ever since Emily declared my previous pair to be toxic, so I am grateful for them.

I also got a new a computer, because my previous is doing a rather fancy job of imitating a fitness club for hamsters. It was definitely time for a brand new spiffy machine that allows me to write my glorious words, while also distracting me from writing more glorious words. What a machine.

Christmas was actually completely awesome without the presents, just in case you thought it was only about the loot. Yes, I appreciated the books and sweaters and candy and previously mentioned things, but the best part was just getting to hang out with people I love. Though you can do that without the need of a religious themed holiday. But something about stuffed snowmen, copious amounts of red, fake evergreens and ceramic angels makes the time just that much more special. I love Christmas time, and this year lived up to the expectations just fine.

Christmas is over. And it has been over for a few weeks. Now, I am looking ahead to this ol' 2011. It is a year where I want to get a lot of writing done. Even more importantly, hope to produce enough sellable work to begin making a rather hefty go at this whole career writing aspiration. But I also don't plan to spend this whole year strictly focused on work. I also hope this is a year I get to spend many hours with people I love and cherish, even when it isn't a holiday with a horde of television specials and catchy seasonal jingles. I really hope this will be a year where I get a bit better at this whole balancing 'family' time with 'working' time (and all the other important times that compose this thing called my life).

Jumping back to the holidays for the second, I also got to spend some time reading some fantastic novels, Stephen Kings novella collection Full Dark, No Stars and Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game. Both are absolutely fantastic works, but for entirely different reasons. Actually, it would be quite a feat to find two novels that are more juxtaposing. I enjoyed them dearly, and hope to write up a proper review on both in the coming days. I've now moved on to John Grisham's first novel, A Time To Kill. I was quickly reminded not only what a great writer Grisham is, but also how spectacular his first ever novel was (to the point that I am not sure he ever wrote a better novel than this one -- which is a compliment since I love his other tomes as well).

Anyway, I've got lots of plans for stuff to write here on the blog and hope you'll be sufficiently entertained as the days and months go by. 2010 was a fun year here but my goal is to make 2011 even better. Plus there is that whole goal of having some stuff for you to read in places other than this blog, such as magazines or story collections or Chinese menus. So, hopefully this is a year you get your fill of Spicer writings.

But enough about me, how has your last few weeks been?