Wife (no pics) and I are a couple of overgrown kids who love to cook, so it seems our Christmas was given over to food and frivolity. Not a bad way to be after a weird, shitty year.
My wife spent a lot of time making homemade confections (she's really good at it) and creating all kinds of beautiful gift boxes (full of treats and fine coffee) for all her coworkers. We bought a ton of jars, and all of our friends and family received a triad of spice blends with their Christmas cards from us. The response we got back was overwhelming. Made us feel good and a little flattered that our kitchen skills are held in such high regard.
I also spent some time prepping and cooking 40# of various BBQ, which I took to the in-laws, fed everyone, and then vac-sealed all the leftovers for everyone to take home.
Evidently, the wife did not have time to concoct any holiday treats for ME, but the selection of Romolo Cherries and Caramels I received was wonderful. In return, she received some Norman Love, for which SHE was grateful. For two people who don't really have a sweet-tooth, we've got some pretty awesome candy on our counter now...ha!
Some friends sent us some funky new kitchen aprons, and we also received some Waterford stemless wine bowls, which we already put to good use at Christmas Dinner with the 2012 Chateau Montelena Estate Cab we opened.
My wife hates our blender, but she prefers using a blender while I prefer the food processor, so it was time to step up and buy her some big, bad-ass, industrial strength mofo, which she loves. She also got a wireless speaker rig for her office and the new Queen Blu-Ray (much to my chagrin, she actually likes Adam Lambert). I also got her a classic Moog Theremin, which has already taken up a place of honor in our Music Room amongst her violins and guitars, along with our baby-grand. Gonna be some interesting music drifting out of our place in the new year.
I received some new oven mitts (my style, my size, and slip-proof), which I needed, along with some cut-proof gloves (for the days that I'm getting rowdy in the kitchen). She gave me Hudson Hawk on Blu-Ray, along with Scream For Me, Sarajevo!. We were present for the premiere of that in London with Bruce Dickinson (yes, THE Bruce Dickinson), but I never did purchase the DVD upon release. She also gave me a wireless speaker rig for the garage, the trilogy of Stephen Fry memoirs, an Annie Ross (R.I.P.) collection, and a Pete Way live album.
She absolutely floored me with the 1984, German-made, Polygram CD of No Tellin' Lies by Zebra. Maybe not the most valuable of releases in the world, but certainly one of the most rare CDs out there. It has been on my Holy Grail list for a while for my collection. Not sure where she got it from or what she spent, but...I'll take it.
But...after all that...there was still the big one. I have collected Ioannis artwork for years. After serving as art director for the Bananas album for Deep Purple, he created two tour posters to commemorate the first two dates (Seattle & San Fran) of the tour, where they were celebrating the anniversary of the Machine Head album. I have had the Warfield poster since 2004 (it was actually a gift from Ioannis...another story), but I never had the print from the Paramount. Well...I do now! Signed and numbered by the artist, BUT also signed by Gillan, Glover, Paice, Morse, and Airey. And then she got it framed in such a badass manner, with shades of deep purple in the borders, and I'll be damned if she didn't find a black wooden frame with a dark purple strip running along the edge (or had it custom-made...who knows?). I was absolutely floored!
Combined with the fact that we saw The Long Goodbye tour from the front row in New Orleans last year, and the permanent placement of the InFinite logo on the inside of my arm in January, the acquisition of the other half of this set seems like...finished business.
Clearly, my wife loves me. I am very grateful.
After Thursday and Friday off, she went back to work for Saturday and Sunday shifts, but has 8 days off after that. And...for once...we actually have NYE plans.
While it will be fun to send 2020 packing with two middle fingers held high, I feel very blessed. Our past two holidays have been a bit butchered, but this one has been a fine one, indeed!