Alex was bugging me to get a toy "for Christmas."

"No. We're done for Christmas."

"What about next Christmas?" he inquires.

"Ask me next year," I say, and he says ok, thinking he's struck up a pretty good deal for himself.

Christmas isn't hurting quite as much this year, probably because I had this nice overtime check from way back in November. There's a couple more odds and ends to take care of, but we're keeping stuff in check for a little until my next paycheck. Then we should be all done.

This afternoon Alex had a sealed christmas bag that he was carrying, and he said, "watch this..."

He dropped the bag on the ground and some growling and mutterings came from within. They were his Hulk fists.

"Be careful, you're going to make him angry," I advised.

Alex bounced the bag on the floor again.

"You're making me angry! You wouldn't like me when I'm angry!" said Hulk hands, as if on cue.
That was awesome.

---

Just finished "Grave of the Fireflies", an anime from 1988. I've had it for a while but Filmspotting mentioned it and got me interested. What a tragic tale told so artfully and without punches pulled. Man. The film is so haunting that I'm still thinking about it. Highly recommend it, although be warned that its a tragedy, albeit a touching one.