obligatory xmas post

[stormsandsins]

I am back at last. I regularly checked my email/lj and sometimes twitter to see what everyone was up to, but was too busy to reply. We baked, cooked, Amy's in-laws were in town, and then my parents, and then sometimes I babysat, and... yeah... not much time to myself. I'll be glad to see my bed again *snuggles*

My gifts:

• A vintage Bon Voyage calendar. It is beautiful!
• Dreamgirls
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• A Time Turner
• A gingerbread man magnet
• $500 (my parents)
  
• $20 (my maternal grandmother - not that I love money, but she does, if you know what I mean *snort*)
• A mini Christmas sock giftcard holder. Cute ;P
  
• Christmas themed socks
• A Polar Express Royal Mint coin. My mother gives Royal Mint coins every year :)
• Christmas themed earrings (3 sets)
• A tree decoration, engraved with the year. Another thing my mum does every year. Ah, tradition :)
• A Willow Tree figurine (Heart of Gold) from my godson. Aww.
• Four romantic comedies: Summer Catch, Rockstar, Home Fries and Addicted to Love.

I also started Philippa Gregory's The Constant Princess on the ride over, and finished it last evening ;) It's a freaking 500-page brick, I didn't think I'd like it since I always seem to find some beef with most English historicals, but I truly, truly enjoyed it. I remember wondering about Katherine of Aragon on the show The Tudors... why did she marry Henry after his brother died... did she even love his brother or was she a power-hungry freak who nonetheless always acted courteous and sweet? What was up with her? Well, I wouldn't say I got my answer (this is fiction!) but it certainly opened a lot of possibilities regarding exactly who she was and why she married Henry VIII. Like I said, it's a 500-page brick, but it was definitely enjoyable, and I certainly look forward to Mary and Anne Boleyn's story (The Other Boleyn Girl), though I am getting The Boleyn Inheritance some time soon. Hey, that's the thing with trading - you never read stuff in order!

Anyway, that's that. I could go into much detail about the past week or so, but frankly I'd rather not! Instead, know that we had some ice and snow a few days ago :D