Ok this year I did not receive a ton of loot, but there were a few gems which stood out.

I received a tin of wonderful ginger snap cookies from kat_nic ...even though I've been referring to them as molasses cookies.  I may be thick-headed sometimes.

My parents gave me a $100 gift card, which I turned into an Xbox 360, with the help of my pet-sitting money.  I also received some clothes, and an ornament from Hallmark of the Fisher Price barn set that was the first toy set they bought me as a child.  The ornament, like the original toy, has a barn door that opens and goes, "mooooooooooo."  It really is an amazing gift. www.cmaspast.com/store/index.php

My grandmother gave me $75, which was an also very cool.

My best friend bought me a tin of my favorite Harney & Sons Holiday tea.

I bought myself Seasons 1 & 2 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and the brand new 2-disc set of The Smiths Greatest Hits.

It was truly a great holiday.

Last night I stood outside in the freezing rain to watch the church I was christened in burn to the ground. In case you were wondering, Dear Readers, no this was not a planned burn.

When my family returned from the movie, we all went to bed. After a bit, I heard my parents calling for me. They smelled an electrical fire and feared further rammifications from the generator. When we looked outside, we saw smoke coming from the church across the road. My father called 911 and I ran to the field adjacent to the church to hope/pray for its survival. Firemen arrived within minutes, as the smoke began pouring out from under the eaves of the church.

There were no flames coming out of the church until the decision was made to open the front doors, which caused a scene right out of Backdraft to play out in front of my eyes. Firemen hit the deck as flames erupted outward and up towards the eaves. They fought a valliant battle, but once the blaze in the front of the church was contained, they used a boom truck to raise a couple of firemen to the roof. Unfortunately, they lowered the boom with enough force to cave in a section of the roof--further fueling the fire which was smouldering inside the drop ceiling.

After 3 hours, it became clear that the church was a goner. Although it is still standing, everything inside had been reduced to cinders' including the solid oak pews. I went to bed while the battle outside continued until 5AM.

This morning my parents and I went to say goodbye to a piece of out history, only to find that another fire was beginning in the front of the church. We met a couple of the firemen who came back out to keep the smouldering wood from igniting again.

At the height of the clusterfuck the night before, I believe there were over 40 rescue workers at the scene from 7 different townships. The firemen this morning told us that there were too many trucks and men in each other's way...not to mention, they had to run to the nearest town to fill up their water tanks, causing a crucial shortage on water, which allowed the fire to completely consume the interior.

I am not an overly religious man, but my family and I are sick right now. The Christmas Day loss of a church we frequently attended has taken its toll on us mentally with physical symptoms soon to follow.

I'm headed to my favorite bar to mourn both the loss of this historic landmark as well as this new hit to my faith.

I will post more to this later, as well as some pictures. Stay tuned if you care.

I just returned to West Lafayette today to find a package here for me. This package was filled with delicious cookies from  kat_nic !

I am exhausted from my drive through the fog and rain, but I wanted to post a big "Thank You" for the wonderful cookies.  I will NOT share them...and they are still as fresh as new-fallen snow.  Well, if new -fallen snow was made with molasses. ;)

I'll post more later, but I MUST take a nap...NOW!!!

Thanks again, kat_nic ...you brought cheer to a rather blah Holiday season.

Oh and just a little heads up...something will be heading your way come either tomorrow or Monday.  I did not want to send something to you when you were not at home.  :) 

The parents and I are off to see a movie on Christmas Day. We decided against Marley and Me--and chose instead to see Four Christmases.

I'm ambivalent towards either film, so I'm just along for the ride. I hate to see Vince Vaughn pandering to the middle-age and older crowd, but I also hate to see Owen Wilson trying to scrape his career off the cutting room floor with a movie featuring a dog as the main character.

I really wanted to see The Spirit or Bedtime Stories, but I deferred to the parental units. I'll let you all know how it goes...

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and Happy Holidays to those of you who do not!

My father and I went shoppong for a few last-minute presents today...and ended up on an 8 hour trip to Springfield, I'll. The roads were terrible, but we were careful. Now I can sit back and relax for a bit. The Holiday rush is over for now. Whew!

I just realized that I left Herman in my house in West Lafayette. I was in such a rush to get back on the road today that I left him all alone...on Christmas of all times. :(

Well if I come back home to find all of my wine gone and my comics all over the floor, I will know that I earned it.
Forgive me Herman, for I know not what I do.