Christmas was pretty good. We spent it with my family, since we're not really in contact with my mother-in-law anymore, a fact that has improved our quality of life significantly. This was the first year my daughter's really been old enough to get it, and she had a ball. Watching her was probably the high point of the whole thing.

Holidays (or, more accurately, my grandparents during holidays) always exhaust my mom, which is a pity since those are also the only times we get to spend any sustained time with her. My grandmother must be the center of and most important thing wherever she is, but the rest of the family's tolerance is waning. My dad, brother, and I don't really go with her attempted narratives, and so she was very quiet during the evenings (we only see them for dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day).

Definitely ate well: Christmas Eve dinner is a shrimp and scallops dish with a parmesan sauce of some kind, and of course tortière for Christmas evening. Much video games: I got an iTunes gift card for Christmas, so have been buying a few iOS games that I've had my eye on and that are on sale. Final Fantasy Tactics for $6? Yes. I also got Mario Kart 8, which was great fun, and even my wife enjoys. I also got her hooked on Kingdoms and Castles, which is worth the $7.50 already, and more is hopefully being added.

It's a good thing I stocked up, as my wife is back to work today, meaning I'm solo-parenting for the rest of the week. She's actually going to a show out of town on the 30th, so I'll be truly on my own for a couple of days then. Somehow I'll survive (I'm just glad my progeny got some new toys recently!). The plan is for an uneventful New Year's, then going to see Star Wars on the 2nd, since our daughter's school reopens by then.