OMG Christmas what?
Eeeeeeee, Christmas!
So I had flown home for Christmas, and my Nana and Georgann came up, and Aunt Snooze drove up on Christmas Eve, and rabbitbenrin also arrived on Christmas Eve. An infinite amount of awesome was had. (Made slightly sad by the fact that rabbitbenrin apparently had mild food poisoning on Christmas Eve, and I had the cold of death, but ah well. Them's the breaks.)
Christmas started way early, since I had to leave by 4:45 to catch my flight at 7:20. Mom made the traditional holiday breakfast things: blueberry muffins, homemade sticky buns, and orange spice scones. (this is just breakfast, mind you.) There were many presents - I got Super Mario Galaxy, and Mom bought me an absolutely fabulous black down coat that comes halfway down my shins and is SO WARM oh my God I cling to it in glee and snuggle warmly amid Chicago weather (which is oddly mild right now - FOR WHICH I AM GRATEFUL.) There are also mittens, to match the coat. My Aunt Linda sent me a very pretty sweater and also a giant scarf. Nana gave me a beautiful hummingbird lamp, and Aunt Snooze gave me the Taste of Home Baking Book, which I had totally almost bought for myself last week because that chocolate-and-raspberry cake on the cover was way too tempting, and also a beautiful set of ten glass mixing bowls. ♥ Uncle Robbie spoiled me again with a $100 gift card to Best Buy, and Bobby and Steve/Julie/etc. both gave me $25 Am Ex gift cards. I can buy my XBOX 360 with money that doesn't have to come out of my bank account. This is the most awesome thing ever. And my rabbitbenrin gave me a Barnes and Noble gift card! I have had an excellent Christmas - wrenbow and Melzer have also completed my collection of Buffy box sets. SQUEAL.
There were many food-related gifts, starting with the fabulous cookies from mithrigil. Mom gave me chocolate and tea and some new face cream since Lancome is evil and discontinued the one I had that I loved so much, and also a huge pile of cookies. Uncle Robbie was in the kitchen sneaking cookies out of the tin, and Mom turns around and goes "Robert, are you sneaking cookies?" and he makes a negative mumble-noise through his mouthful of cookies, and Mom promises retribution, and it was hilarious :)
Also very sweet moment: Dad had bought Mom the Celtic Woman Christmas album, and the Josh Groban one. Mom knew she was getting them, as she had wrapped them herself. Well, when she opened them on Christmas morning, she discovered something that had not been there when she wrapped her present: a note from Dad inviting her to the Celtic Woman concert in March. It was so ridiculously sweet. ♥
So, anyway, presents being done and massive numbers of family having arrived, we had dinner, which was absolutely amazing. I can never get enough of my mother's cooking. (it is probably good for the fit of my clothes that I can only have it a couple times a year, though.) I was really upset at having to leave, though - when I went upstairs to pack for the flight home, I ended up sitting on my bedroom floor and crying because I desperately did not want to have to leave. I was so horribly upset at the entire notion and I felt bad for Mom because I was clearly not a happy kitty and that was definitely not what she wanted.
I was too full for pie, so Mom cut four slices and put them in Tupperware for me. ♥ I went to the airport to discover that, shock!surprise!ohnoez!, my flight was now delayed 2 hours. (The United website was not yet updated with this information.) There were no earlier flights to Chicago that I could get on. I sighed, shrugged, and moved on. I gave Mom lots of hugs and kisses and then checked myself through security, managed to run into a fellow Northwestern alum who had graduated from WCAS with PoliSci/Econ and have an amusing conversation about professors, and then played Final Fantasy III obsessively, trying to level up enough to kill the Iron Giant. I also called yi_sen to see what he and Cel were up to, and he ended up offering to come pick me up from the airport instead of me having to take a cab. yi_sen is the very bestest yi_sen ever. Rly.
So I eventually get on the plane, which is naturally plagued with turbulence fuckIhateturbulencelikemad. Finally, I end up on safe solid ground in Chicago, and meet up with yi_sen. Baggage is rescued in record time for O'Hare, and then we were off to my apartment. I rewarded yi_sen for being awesome with a slice of pumpkin pie and one of mithrigil's fabulous mint cookies. We hung out for a little while while I unpacked.
Also, when I got home, there were presents! laylah and mahokiwi had sent me the Play Arts Edge figurine. I squealed. I squealed like a squealing thing. yi_sen can verify. Also, cadence sent me the first piece of FullMetal Alchemist! I am so excited. I may start watching tonight after yi_sen's birthday dinner. OH MY GOD, AWESOME CHRISTMAS.
And Yuletide. Holy cow, Yuletide! I was in a mild panic when I saw my name amid the 160-some-odd folks needing a pinch hit, and wibbled and made the sad face. However, Yuletide folks totally came through, and I have not one, but three stories. Links below in a moment, but oh my God, I am so happy. So, so happy. The two full-length stories I got were both for the prompt I wanted most, and the shorter one made me squeal out loud when I was reading (I had to read in snatches as the family were being, well, family, but seriously. YULETIDE. Holy crap.)
Final Fantasy IV
Black and White. KainxValvalicia. More detailed rec later when I get to re-read.
Twilight. KainxValvalicia. Also more detailed rec later.
Final Fantasy Tactics
On the Transfer of One's Liege to the Care of Another Ovelia and Agrias. I opened this, read the first three lines, and had a very strong suspicion of who my benevolent Yuletide Santa might be. I am so full of squee at this one. The language is gorgeous, and I love the way it captures Agrias's internal conflict and the challenges of being who and what she is. Infinite squee. SO MUCH AWESOME.
Okay, yes, I have squealed enough and flailed and been a very silly thing. I am off to find some cough drops and then meet yi_sen, celeloriel, and others for dinner.
Have I mentioned, I love Christmas?
So I had flown home for Christmas, and my Nana and Georgann came up, and Aunt Snooze drove up on Christmas Eve, and rabbitbenrin also arrived on Christmas Eve. An infinite amount of awesome was had. (Made slightly sad by the fact that rabbitbenrin apparently had mild food poisoning on Christmas Eve, and I had the cold of death, but ah well. Them's the breaks.)
Christmas started way early, since I had to leave by 4:45 to catch my flight at 7:20. Mom made the traditional holiday breakfast things: blueberry muffins, homemade sticky buns, and orange spice scones. (this is just breakfast, mind you.) There were many presents - I got Super Mario Galaxy, and Mom bought me an absolutely fabulous black down coat that comes halfway down my shins and is SO WARM oh my God I cling to it in glee and snuggle warmly amid Chicago weather (which is oddly mild right now - FOR WHICH I AM GRATEFUL.) There are also mittens, to match the coat. My Aunt Linda sent me a very pretty sweater and also a giant scarf. Nana gave me a beautiful hummingbird lamp, and Aunt Snooze gave me the Taste of Home Baking Book, which I had totally almost bought for myself last week because that chocolate-and-raspberry cake on the cover was way too tempting, and also a beautiful set of ten glass mixing bowls. ♥ Uncle Robbie spoiled me again with a $100 gift card to Best Buy, and Bobby and Steve/Julie/etc. both gave me $25 Am Ex gift cards. I can buy my XBOX 360 with money that doesn't have to come out of my bank account. This is the most awesome thing ever. And my rabbitbenrin gave me a Barnes and Noble gift card! I have had an excellent Christmas - wrenbow and Melzer have also completed my collection of Buffy box sets. SQUEAL.
There were many food-related gifts, starting with the fabulous cookies from mithrigil. Mom gave me chocolate and tea and some new face cream since Lancome is evil and discontinued the one I had that I loved so much, and also a huge pile of cookies. Uncle Robbie was in the kitchen sneaking cookies out of the tin, and Mom turns around and goes "Robert, are you sneaking cookies?" and he makes a negative mumble-noise through his mouthful of cookies, and Mom promises retribution, and it was hilarious :)
Also very sweet moment: Dad had bought Mom the Celtic Woman Christmas album, and the Josh Groban one. Mom knew she was getting them, as she had wrapped them herself. Well, when she opened them on Christmas morning, she discovered something that had not been there when she wrapped her present: a note from Dad inviting her to the Celtic Woman concert in March. It was so ridiculously sweet. ♥
So, anyway, presents being done and massive numbers of family having arrived, we had dinner, which was absolutely amazing. I can never get enough of my mother's cooking. (it is probably good for the fit of my clothes that I can only have it a couple times a year, though.) I was really upset at having to leave, though - when I went upstairs to pack for the flight home, I ended up sitting on my bedroom floor and crying because I desperately did not want to have to leave. I was so horribly upset at the entire notion and I felt bad for Mom because I was clearly not a happy kitty and that was definitely not what she wanted.
I was too full for pie, so Mom cut four slices and put them in Tupperware for me. ♥ I went to the airport to discover that, shock!surprise!ohnoez!, my flight was now delayed 2 hours. (The United website was not yet updated with this information.) There were no earlier flights to Chicago that I could get on. I sighed, shrugged, and moved on. I gave Mom lots of hugs and kisses and then checked myself through security, managed to run into a fellow Northwestern alum who had graduated from WCAS with PoliSci/Econ and have an amusing conversation about professors, and then played Final Fantasy III obsessively, trying to level up enough to kill the Iron Giant. I also called yi_sen to see what he and Cel were up to, and he ended up offering to come pick me up from the airport instead of me having to take a cab. yi_sen is the very bestest yi_sen ever. Rly.
So I eventually get on the plane, which is naturally plagued with turbulence fuckIhateturbulencelikemad. Finally, I end up on safe solid ground in Chicago, and meet up with yi_sen. Baggage is rescued in record time for O'Hare, and then we were off to my apartment. I rewarded yi_sen for being awesome with a slice of pumpkin pie and one of mithrigil's fabulous mint cookies. We hung out for a little while while I unpacked.
Also, when I got home, there were presents! laylah and mahokiwi had sent me the Play Arts Edge figurine. I squealed. I squealed like a squealing thing. yi_sen can verify. Also, cadence sent me the first piece of FullMetal Alchemist! I am so excited. I may start watching tonight after yi_sen's birthday dinner. OH MY GOD, AWESOME CHRISTMAS.
And Yuletide. Holy cow, Yuletide! I was in a mild panic when I saw my name amid the 160-some-odd folks needing a pinch hit, and wibbled and made the sad face. However, Yuletide folks totally came through, and I have not one, but three stories. Links below in a moment, but oh my God, I am so happy. So, so happy. The two full-length stories I got were both for the prompt I wanted most, and the shorter one made me squeal out loud when I was reading (I had to read in snatches as the family were being, well, family, but seriously. YULETIDE. Holy crap.)
Final Fantasy IV
Black and White. KainxValvalicia. More detailed rec later when I get to re-read.
Twilight. KainxValvalicia. Also more detailed rec later.
Final Fantasy Tactics
On the Transfer of One's Liege to the Care of Another Ovelia and Agrias. I opened this, read the first three lines, and had a very strong suspicion of who my benevolent Yuletide Santa might be. I am so full of squee at this one. The language is gorgeous, and I love the way it captures Agrias's internal conflict and the challenges of being who and what she is. Infinite squee. SO MUCH AWESOME.
Okay, yes, I have squealed enough and flailed and been a very silly thing. I am off to find some cough drops and then meet yi_sen, celeloriel, and others for dinner.
Have I mentioned, I love Christmas?