So What’s Been Happening Recently? #2

Christmas Eve 2017.

After the motorbike show, I continued with the usual routine of work, sleep and eating.
I had received a phone call from my mother saying that there wouldn’t be a family Christmas dinner this year as my stepfather and brother would both be working on Christmas day. They both worked as security guards. This made my wife happy, as she had been wanting to have a Christmas day to ourselves for a long time. So to have Christmas Day to ourselves we had to get everything sorted on Christmas Eve. As I worked nights I had to fit in a few hours kip, going around and giving out presents at my mum’s, my sisters, and my brothers and spending some time with the father-in-law.

I managed to get off early in the morning. So after I so able to get a few more hours of sleep. It was time to make the rounds and after putting the presents in the van. The first stop was my brother. I had got him a couple of external hard drive cases. Inside those cases were my old hard drives from my old computer. I had security wiped, so they were pretty much brand new again. They totalled 1.5 Terabytes of memory, which is about 1500 Gigabytes. I filled them up with family photos, films, comics, everything he would want. I did have to explain all this to him and he was pretty chuffed about it.

There was a problem with one of the hard drives, that it failed to work on his and his friends’ computer. So a couple of weeks later I took the hard drive back to test it out. It worked fine for me but it still wouldn’t work for him. So the next best thing I could think of was to rebuild my old computer. And that’s what I did. I added a new rejected keyboard, the @ button had ” instead. Which was fixed with a sticker. For two pounds I ain’t complaining. A wireless mouse and a wireless internet dongle. To finish it off we gave him my old TV that we didn’t use anymore. The setup was complete. Merry Christmas.

On to the next family member. My sister. It turned out they were doing the prezzie run as well. When we turned up my nephew was at home alone. Before anyone starts he is old enough to be home alone.

My wife wouldn’t come in because she is afraid of big dogs. So she waited outside while my sister turned up and put the dog away. We spent the time catching up and handing each other presents. I got her some celebrity autobiography books and a giant puzzle book. My brother in law, he got an MP3 player with an aux lead so he could play his music in his van. My nephew got a gamers survival kit. Which consisted of food and drink, a mason mug with straw, and a spare pyjama set. Exercise routines for wrists, with stress balls. I also threw in as a joke, a man-size nappy. So he didn’t need to go to the toilet whilst gaming. Lastly, some glasses to help with eye strain. All this was packaged in a rucksack. After enjoying some time there we made our way over to my mothers.

In the front room, my sister and niece were there, and my mum pottering about the house. My stepdad was in the kitchen watching the telly. After we settled down we handed out presents.

We gave my niece a backpack filled with stationary, education books for her age. Some reading books and a bag of lollipops. My niece loves learning. So when she opened them, she was straight on the floor going through them. It was pretty cool to see this.

My mum is a Harry Potter fan, like myself. I purchased the main characters in the Funko Pop form. I am not sure what she thought of them. She did seem a bit confused. I think she liked them.

My two brothers had turned up. I had got them the same thing as my other sister and stepdad. In total, I have three brothers and three sisters, just in case you were wondering. It was a portable radio, MP3 player and recorder. My sister and her husband weren’t there to get theirs so I left them with my mum. Brother in law got a Waterstones book card. My other nieces and nephew also got backpacks full of learning, and reading books, with sweets. I would love to get them something more but if I got them something that could be pawned off, their mother would do it.

My wife had bought my sister a bag full of makeup and accessories.
We spent a few hours catching up, doing the usual family things. Then it was time for the final visit of the day. To the father-in-law.
The father-in-law came to pick us up and took us to his place. We gave him his presents which were some multi-coloured pen set and some pads to draw in. I got his friend Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 1 DVD box set.
I later disappeared with his friend for a vape break. But this was also a rouse to go and get the extra present for my wife.
When we went for the motorcycle lesson they advised that she should get a bike and learn to balance on it before moving forward to a scooter. So that’s what I got her, a purple Dutch-style bike. It has a wicker basket in the front, a bag holder in the back and a bike stand. After giving it the once over and her moaning at me for spending too much money on her. We put it back in the friends’ house until later.
She hasn’t ridden it once yet.