Merry merry merry merry X-Men!
We have had an utterly lovely Christmas day. Young Indiana opted not to wake until a quarter to 8, for which is parents are very grateful. He had pretty much no idea what was going on, and was thoroughly distracted by each present as it was opened, but among the clear highlights was the Omnitrix, which he insisted on wearing all day. :)
*My* favorite amongst Ted's presents was A FEAST OF ICE AND FIRE, the official grrm Game of Thrones cookbook, which is so much fun to read that it's worth it just for that, nevermind the fact that there are dozens of recipes I'd like to try. We are going to have to have a Feast of Ice and Fire our own selves, clearly, and invite people over, because wow. Anyway, Ted seemed very pleased with it as well, and was equally happy with all the other stuff he'd specifically asked for that he got. Although I thought it was funny that he didn't cotton on to the one labeled, "Lee. Ted Lee," from "Miss Murphypenny" as being the complete James Bond DVD set. *laughs*
Me, I cleaned up in the music department, getting all kinds of great albums I didn't expect, though to my great amusement, this evening I did say to Ted, "But I didn't get the Jim Byrnes album," and he said, "YES YOU DID!" I was like, "Um, all evidence is to the contrary! Maybe it's with the root beer?" (He swears last year he bought me a 12 pack of A&W root beer (a rare and precious commodity in these parts), but it certainly didn't manifest beneath the tree and we can't find it anywhere else, either.) He gave me an amused dirty look and went racing off to the back room, where he found the CD still in its Amazon box and returned to present it to me in chagrin. *laughs*
In between all that, we went to Mom and Dad's for a family gathering, and had an excellent exchange of gifts, loads of gorgeous food, and a lot of love and laughter. Upon my request, my sister knitted me a new hat, as I'd lost the one she'd made me several years ago and was quite crushed, as I'd loved it. This one, though, is even better, because it's My Color! (Teal!) And it's got the cutest leaf-shaped 1920s clouch-band splash feature and I love it unconditionally. And I can't post a picture because it wasn't quite *done* yet, so she has to finish it up, but I'll post it when I get it for real. :)
I am personally and selfishly particularly satisfied at my older nephew's cry of triumph when he opened my gift, the second in a middle-grade fantasy series that I'm writing for him. One of the non-family guests wondered what it was, and he very, very proudly told her that I was writing books for him. (She was also very impressed, but it's a little hard to gauge whether a 10 year old actually grasps how freaking cool it is that I'm writing books for him. Turns out he does. :))
It was, in fact, a very book-ful Christmas. Many, many books given as gifts this year, which isn't unusual but it seemed like a higher percentage. *laughs* And one of them to me was a gift from another non-family friend, who had written carefully along the wrapping,
At
Thanksgiving
I
had
a
thought
but
I
quelled
it
and
would
speak
no
more
of
it.
This
is/was
that
thought.
-F
and within was a copy of THE HORSE BOY, a story of an autistic boy who responded well to horses, and his father's attempts to communicate and heal the child. They ended up going to traditional Mongolian shamans, and F. had told me about the book earlier in the year, because he'd just read it and my Walker Papers novels and shamanism knowledge had made him think of me while he'd read it. So at Thanksgiving, we were chatting and he suddenly said, "Oh! AH!" and I was all o.O and he was all "nothing, nothing!" and wouldn't be pressed on it. And so the book was that thought: it had suddenly struck him he should get me the book for Christmas. *laughs*
So that was cool. :) And now I'm up too late and must go to bed, but I hope everyone has had an equally lovely day, whether Christmasy or not, and that you get to kick back a little here at the end of the year and be happy. <3
*My* favorite amongst Ted's presents was A FEAST OF ICE AND FIRE, the official grrm Game of Thrones cookbook, which is so much fun to read that it's worth it just for that, nevermind the fact that there are dozens of recipes I'd like to try. We are going to have to have a Feast of Ice and Fire our own selves, clearly, and invite people over, because wow. Anyway, Ted seemed very pleased with it as well, and was equally happy with all the other stuff he'd specifically asked for that he got. Although I thought it was funny that he didn't cotton on to the one labeled, "Lee. Ted Lee," from "Miss Murphypenny" as being the complete James Bond DVD set. *laughs*
Me, I cleaned up in the music department, getting all kinds of great albums I didn't expect, though to my great amusement, this evening I did say to Ted, "But I didn't get the Jim Byrnes album," and he said, "YES YOU DID!" I was like, "Um, all evidence is to the contrary! Maybe it's with the root beer?" (He swears last year he bought me a 12 pack of A&W root beer (a rare and precious commodity in these parts), but it certainly didn't manifest beneath the tree and we can't find it anywhere else, either.) He gave me an amused dirty look and went racing off to the back room, where he found the CD still in its Amazon box and returned to present it to me in chagrin. *laughs*
In between all that, we went to Mom and Dad's for a family gathering, and had an excellent exchange of gifts, loads of gorgeous food, and a lot of love and laughter. Upon my request, my sister knitted me a new hat, as I'd lost the one she'd made me several years ago and was quite crushed, as I'd loved it. This one, though, is even better, because it's My Color! (Teal!) And it's got the cutest leaf-shaped 1920s clouch-band splash feature and I love it unconditionally. And I can't post a picture because it wasn't quite *done* yet, so she has to finish it up, but I'll post it when I get it for real. :)
I am personally and selfishly particularly satisfied at my older nephew's cry of triumph when he opened my gift, the second in a middle-grade fantasy series that I'm writing for him. One of the non-family guests wondered what it was, and he very, very proudly told her that I was writing books for him. (She was also very impressed, but it's a little hard to gauge whether a 10 year old actually grasps how freaking cool it is that I'm writing books for him. Turns out he does. :))
It was, in fact, a very book-ful Christmas. Many, many books given as gifts this year, which isn't unusual but it seemed like a higher percentage. *laughs* And one of them to me was a gift from another non-family friend, who had written carefully along the wrapping,
At
Thanksgiving
I
had
a
thought
but
I
quelled
it
and
would
speak
no
more
of
it.
This
is/was
that
thought.
-F
and within was a copy of THE HORSE BOY, a story of an autistic boy who responded well to horses, and his father's attempts to communicate and heal the child. They ended up going to traditional Mongolian shamans, and F. had told me about the book earlier in the year, because he'd just read it and my Walker Papers novels and shamanism knowledge had made him think of me while he'd read it. So at Thanksgiving, we were chatting and he suddenly said, "Oh! AH!" and I was all o.O and he was all "nothing, nothing!" and wouldn't be pressed on it. And so the book was that thought: it had suddenly struck him he should get me the book for Christmas. *laughs*
So that was cool. :) And now I'm up too late and must go to bed, but I hope everyone has had an equally lovely day, whether Christmasy or not, and that you get to kick back a little here at the end of the year and be happy. <3