All I got for Christmas

Been a bit quiet round here lately. Which is good, as it shows what a great time we all had over Christmas and the New Year.

Having small children now makes us the centre of attention. This suits me as I get to cook and entertain a lot, and travel very little. Used to be the other way around a decade ago, but this way is more to my liking at this time of year. We managed visits by all members of both families, except Mick and Linda who had popped over earlier in the month for Antonia's Christmas concert.

On the big day itself every flat surface in the house was covered in presents and shredded wrapping paper long before anyone even mentioned anything sensible like breakfast. We're now past Twelfth Night and indeed Plough Monday (check out the photos on that site for instant goosebumps, and then "what people say about us" to feel normal again) and they are just starting to come under some sort of control. I hadn't heard of Plough Monday before, but that's just what happens when you start dipping into excellent unexpected presents like The English Year.

The one that caused the most interest was the Xbox 360 from outrageously generous Uncle Mike, who was over for a couple of weeks from Spain. I somehow managed to leave it in its box without "testing" it until he arrived on Boxing Day, a feat of self denial that somehow looks far less impressive than it really is when written down like that. The packaging didn't last long once the kids were shown it, mind you. I'd tried to choose games that were nominally for each of us, and all went down well:

• Viva Pinata for Antonia, a rare example of a game where you create a beautiful garden and nurture the life that it grows and attracts, rather than generally killing and fighting anything you come across
• FIFA07 for Alex, for when it really is too wet to go outside and play the real thing
  
• Oblivion for Michaela, who likes nothing better than blood-thirsty mass annihilation of mythical enemies after a hard day at the office
  
• Tomb Raider for me, erm, because I'm so fit and acrobatic and like archaeology and puzzle solving
• PGR3 for everyone, back seat and front seat drivers alike. Of course I am the highest ranking driver so far, mainly because the kids enjoy crashing so much and don't seem to care when I point out it slows you down a bit
  

Aside from that I received several books by new writers (to me) that I'm looking forward to reading, and Michaela joined a health spa / gym that's opened up a few miles away. For the kids the list is simply too long to go into, but that doesn't mean they don't find time to enjoy and appreciate every single one of them. Until the next birthday comes along...