While I think we all know that Christmas is much more than a time to give and receive presents, my inner child is still enjoying the many new toys that appeared under the Christmas tree with my name on it. In addition to these, I also have my birthday gifts to enjoy as well. In other words, I am in gift overload.

It’s funny too. I actually told Jamie on the way to Appleton for Christmas that I wished I had put more “practical” items on my Amazon Wish List instead of just videogames and books. Fortunately my family cares too much about me to let me become a hermit and got me some great gifts to enjoy the outdoors too.

So without further ado, here are some of the highlights of the gifts I am enjoying. This list is in no particular order so please do not be offended if your gift came in “second place” according to this. It’s just a list. I love them all.

Dead Rising – Any game that allows the player to run over zombies with a lawnmower is okay in my book. I’ve heard the game can become annoying in some ways, but I love killing me some zombies.

Bully – I have always enjoyed movies that show the turmoil of the school years (Breakfast Club, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, etc.), so this game is a great fit for my type of humor.

Snowshoes – While I am doubtful that it will actually snow anytime soon, I am enjoying the prospect of it. I think owning these also scores me some more points towards being a borderline lumberjack.

Garmin GPS – This is actual a return purchase after my dad bought Jamie and I a camcorder. Since we already had a camcorder, I picked up a GPS and got Jamie an iPod. I am excited to do some GeoCaching with this little guy soon. Again, borderline lumberjack.

Velvet Elvis – I have really wanted to read this book by Rob Bell for a while so I can’t wait to finish up the last of the Left Behind books to move on to something I actually want to read.

Again, this is just a fraction of the gifts received. I am so ridiculously blessed. Thank you much if you were one of the family members doing the gifting. Rest assured that your gift is helping me keep my sanity in my downtime here at camp.

This is one of those stories that you wish you could undo, but at the same time, it is perfect for blogging.

So today in the office I decided to make the transition from fall decorations (pumpkins and scarecrows) to winter decorations (wreaths and trees). The real motivation for this was a pair of old snowshoes that my father-in-law gave to me. I have been eager to have them up in the office as a decoration and also to get them out of my office.

Ideally I wanted to hang the snowshoes in a criss-cross (not to be confused with 90’s rap all-stars Kriss-Kross) fashion on the wall. It couldn’t be that hard, right? So I got out some string and tied them together. After several minutes of fighting with them to get them just right, I realized I didn’t need string at all, I needed some wire.

Being the burly woodsy guy that I am, I decided it would be faster to pull the snowshoes apart, rather than untying them. It was just kite string, right?

So I started pulling. I guess I didn’t really realize just how hard I was pulling though. That is, I didn’t realize until the string eventually snapped and sent one of the snowshoes right into my forehead. Ouch.

I just stood there stunned for a second. Did that really just happen? I reached up and felt my handywork and found a nice welt where I was hit.

After swallowing my pride, I tried to get some more work done. After about a half-hour though, my head was hurting pretty good and it was already 4 pm. So I went home.

When Jamie saw me, the first thing I said was “I got attacked by a snowshoe.” After she stopped laughing she told me I had a red mark where it hit me. I didn’t even think to look in the mirror, but sure enough, there it was.

Now my only fear that I will wake up with a big bruise or even a black eye from a freakin‘ snowshoe. Great.