It's 100% official...

HUZAH!: The dollar has now actually become stronger- its fluctuating- but this photo says its more!

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Finding time when you have nothing but...

He sits, secluded at his desk.

The ashen radiance of his computer monitor converts his already pale skin to an almost flat white.

Thin red veins erode the edges of his eyes and his fingers curl as if they're holding a tennis ball, the tips brushing the the alphanumeric keys beneath.

Nervously his right leg bounces up and down in an erratic cadence, keeping time with the gratuitous firing of synapses playing out within his skull.

To an outside observer he may as well have been in a prolonged and inescapable bout of writers block- but, deep in the recesses of his mind he was burning through idea after idea.

So many things, so many thoughts, so many inner dialogues were playing simultaneously that his external shell, all but the leg, had frozen-

He forgets to breathe. His racing mind comes to a halt when the brains stem takes control and forces a breath into his lungs.

Mildly embarrassed by the little grunt he let out, he looks about the room.

He's alone.

He finds the clock in the corner of his screen- work had been over twenty minutes.

The 'Perfect Gift'

Each year around this time our duty as decent human beings (in this society) is to ask our loved ones, whether that be friends, family, co-workers, pets, stuffed animals or... whatever... what they would like for a gift.

...and each year, with the exception of some of your family (they tend to not care what you think of them...) every one of those loved ones tells you, in one form or another, the same basic thing:

"Oh, I don't care what you get me... it's the thought that counts..."

How often have you found yourself in the situation where you have NO idea what to get someone... No matter how well you know them?

or... say you know what to get them, but your budget doesn't seem to coincide with what it is...

How do you decide on the 'Perfect Gift'?

Well... to be honest... the 'Perfect Gift' really does come from the heart. The 'Perfect Gift' is something you truly want to give the person, not just something they ask for.

In my mind, if you're more excited for the person to open the gift then they are... it's probably the 'Perfect Gift'.

A perfect example is my Father: Every year at this time, the tree gets set up, decorated and lit- its always 'Perfect' in its own way- and every year my dad will come down the stairs, survey the amount of gifts under the tree, turn to my mother and say "There isn't enough.".

It doesn't matter how rough a year they've had financially, it doesn't matter what hardships and toils our family had been through, it doesn't matter how much we tell him that it doesn't matter... and that 'it's the thought that counts'... My mum and dad will make SURE that come Christmas morning, the room is filled with boxes and bags of every shape and size and that the youngest (now my nephew, Devon, who's job it is to pass out gifts) is having to crawl into all the nooks and crannies of our living room to find the last present...

In fact, the year my older brother died, my parents decided they wanted to do something big for the family... and as they're gift, they flew us all to Cabo San Lucas to spend as a family- something to take our minds off the events of a few months earlier I guess...

And... EVEN with that truly amazing gift... where none of us expected any more... come Christmas Eve my parents were passing out gifts to us kids... because it "...wasn't enough."

But, this isn't what I remember most about my dad at Christmas... in fact, I could hardly tell you what actual items I've ever been given... that was never the point...

What I remember most, is how every single Christmas morning at 6 or 7 am sharp (depending on how late my parents were up 'helping Santa'), my Dad would come pounding on our individual doors bellowing excitedly about how the big red guy had been there and how we better get down (or up) the stairs immediately if we didn't want to miss out on the mornings activities... and he wouldn't stop until every one of his children (and they're children as the case has become) were awake and waiting outside the door of the living room.

He wasn't doing this because we weren't excited to come open presents... No...

He wanted to see the looks on our faces... he wanted to feel the energy in the air... he wanted us to know how much he loved us, all that much sooner (even if we thought it was Santa who brought some of the presents).

I actually haven't believed in Santa Claus for longer than most kids due to a discovery I made when I was very young. But I kept up the facade because, well... in essence my Dad was my Santa (white beard and all)...

Santa is one symbol that represents the most unquestionable kindness and a love for everyone... and every year around Christmas time (if not more) so did my dad. (But with this Santa, the naughty or nice list was thrown out about a month before Christmas day...)

I sometimes think about the different symbols or, representatives, of love I've had in my life... and there are three that stand out the most- My mom... The man represented in the photo above... and of course... my 'santa'...

I'd have to say it is because of those three that I am who I am today- the three people I hated to disappoint the most...

So! If you're stressing and lamenting about what to get someone for Christmas... or you feel you don't have the funds, remember... that no matter what it is you give, if you do it with love... true and unquestionable love... it is the 'Perfect Gift'.

(photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and my photoshop skills)

Fun times...

This may be the best game ever created... it IS an old one... but who cares!? it's an AWESOME one!

This is my score... see if you can beat it! (try and show photographic proof!)














and here is my low score! (see if you can go lower!)














The Notorious: KITTEN CANNON!!!!!!!

(EDIT: I changed it from the embedded player to the link so the song would BLARE everytime you load this page-)