From the Mind of Trevor Stone

My mom fetched a large roll of wrapping paper from the basement. After trying to remove some of it, she discovered that it was actually a wrapped cardboard tube. On the end, there was a tag, addressed to my uncle, from my mom. This implies that on Christmas at least two decades ago, this present was camouflaged and forgotten, then subsequently consistently mistaken for a normal roll of wrapping paper.

Rather chuffed at her discovery, my mom gave me the present, a large map of Colorado. Is it re-gifting if the intended recipient never got the gift in the first place?

December 25th:
1 PM: I call parents. They say they're "just getting going."
5:30 PM: I arrive at parents house. They're just about to put the turkey in the oven.
6 PM: Dad fills the nut trays, makes guacamole, and gets out some chips. We snack and socialize.
8 PM: I finish wrapping presents.
10:15 PM: Turkey is done, dinner begins.

December 26th:
12:10 AM: Pie consumption and dinner conversation ends. Head to living room to watch previously discussed cartoons.
1 AM: Mom finishes assembling bags of food (in lieu of objects) and wrapping a couple presents.
1:45 AM: Baby boomers finish unwrapping presents which I amusingly addressed in yellow highlighter on newspaper.
2:30 AM: Everyone goes to bed.
11 AM: I wake up and check email. Reflect positively on the decision to take Boxing Day off work.
1 PM: Breakfast begins. (Blueberry pancakes, pickled herring, sliced ham.)


Last week my mom left a long rambling message about how she didn't know what to get me for Christmas because I'll be putting all my stuff in storage in a few months anyway and I've got the books I need... So I told her she could give me tasty things I can eat before I head south this spring. Amusingly, we each gave each other a pomegranate. I gave her three varieties of ginger candy from Pacific Ocean Market. I delayed wrapping presents so I could read as much of The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat before I gave it to my mom. I also spent several hours reading Our Dumb World before I gave it to my dad.