As I’m the wrong side of 30 nowadays Christmas for me is all about family and having some time off from work. Christmas (at least the present-opening side of things) is for kids in my book. I say that, but come Christmas morning I’m not exactly unhappy to receive a selection of interesting presents! The following are some of the highlights…

The Broons Annual (it’s a comic book)

The Broons are a working class family stuck in the 1950s who get up to all sorts of amusing and somewhat innocent adventures. They have 7 children, live in a tenement block, the mother does all the work and the father mostly goes down the pub or out fishing. It’s all written in Scottish so they say things like “JINGS! THERE’S NAE NEED TAE EAT SAE FAST YE DAFT GOWK!” and “MICHTY ME! THERE’S A MANNIE AT THE WINDAE! CALL THE POLIS!”. Every other year a new Broons annual is released and I’d eagerly read mine throughout Christmas day when I was a kid and it’d keep me busy. (Every other year they release Oor Wullie but I’ll save that for next year). My brother got it for me this year after a gap of many years so it’s like a trip back to my childhood! What’s strange is that it hasn’t changed at all, they’re still stuck in the 1950s, although the internet does pop up from time to time so they do have some of the modern trappings! Although my girlfriend can’t understand it as she disnae speak Scottish. I’m black affronted.

Some Tasty Snacks That Didn’t Last Long

I love flapjacks and anything that in any way, shape or form resembles flapjacks. I also like shortbread. And caramel shortbread, and tiffins and anything like any of the above. So when I got a box full of delicious bite-sized snacks it didn’t take me more than a few hours to devour the lot. They were lovely though!

Some Things To Make Me Smell Nice And Age Well

A collection of fine-smelling products like deodorant, shampoo and conditioner (what with the long hair) is fine, but now I’m getting older I notice I got some anti-wrinkle cream (I guess my good lady’s trying to tell me I’m not 21 any more). I’ll start to worry when I get presents including ralgex, foot powder and worse of all, Just-For-Men hair dye!

Coffee To Make You Smile

Regular readers will know I love my coffee and I also love my coffee machine. So I was very thoughtfully given some swanky coffee cups and some equipment to enable me to produce a more professional cappuccino like in the picture. Cool! What’s even cooler is that the smiley face remained all the way down until the cup was finished – just like a good pint of Guinness!

Alias is like James Bond (played by a very attractive woman – Jennifer Garner) crossed with Sunset Beach (insane story lines episode after episode, each crazier than the previous one). It’s fantastic and unfortunately I missed the start of Season 4 of the show so decided to wait until they reran it. No need as I’ve now got the box set courtesy of my brother! We’ve watched the first 9 episodes and it’s still as amazing as ever – and that Jennifer Garner gets sexier by the season…

Some Excellent Macadamia Nuts

I love macadamia nuts. I’d eat them all the time except Britain is the worst country in the world for quality food. The French PM is absolutely right when he says the UK has the worst food in the world. It’s terrible. However you only realise this when you travel abroad and try other food then come home to what they pass off as tasty. The only time I manage to get good macadamia nuts (among other things) is when I’m in another country or there’s a French travelling market in town. So it was with some surprise that I opened these ones and discovered that they were definitely up to standard! As a result they didn’t last very long… But at least I know where to get more.

Anyway, that’s a quick list of some of the nice things I received this year. Much more than I deserve but what can I do? Now, onto the New Year!