Indulge me just this once

My dad called me for my birthday yesterday. I missed the call because I was at a concert and it was too late to ring him back once it was over, so I phoned him today. The call went like this:

Dad: So, what's new and exciting?
Me: Well, I had a really fun weekend. [Pauses for encouragement to go on.]
Dad: Well, not much new here. [Proceeds to talk about himself for forty-five minutes]

I shouldn't be too hard on him, I guess. After all, none of the rest of my out-of-town family could be bothered to ring me at all. But at least I wasn't put out about it, since they did the same thing last year.

My in-town family is another story altogether. They stopped by this morning bearing gifts, some of which I will cover in a post that would've gotten written tonight if only I'd been online instead of on the phone and one of which, well, let's just say that the next time you come over, chances are high that I'll trot it out for admiration and comment.