Merry Happy Cool Holidays, everyone!!!
It's been a GOOD morning! I got loot, I talked to my family, I got up at 6 am to cook.... okay, maybe not that last bit. But the turkey, currently known as Big Alice, looks gorgeous, so here's hoping it turns out tasty. The sugar I used in the brine-mixture has given it the most beautiful brown glaze, and my apartment smells of oranges and fresh thyme.
THE LOOT: Well, lessee; let's go in order of appearance.
1. First off, two boxes showed up yesterday literally as I arrived home (the Post Office Guy was there in his little white truck, putting things in the apartment mailstand.) Both were really, *really* unexpected-- one was from dogmatix_san, who I haven't heard from in ages (and Mati? there's something coming to you as well that I've been wanting to send since last year; it has a story behind it, just a bit) and it was a marvelous tie-dye t-shirt kit, which I'll use with great glee.
2. The second package had me seriously puzzled-- it came from Canada. ??? The note inside explained, though-- it was my domino_effect Secret Santa gift, commissioned from a certain very fine hat-maker of my acquaintance! Whoever you are, Secret DE Santa, you ROCK LIKE GREAT BIG HUGE ROCKS! It's modeled off Bear, Serenity's scraggly half-grown kitten, and Kiro? You got it exactly right. I'll post pics later.
3. Last night at Sara & William's, I got a marvelous-looking book and a great Chinese hanten shirt; the entire party was fantastic as it was-- the food, the company, watching Pirates of the Carribean II & III and playing a weird Cthulu-ish boardgame called 'Unspeakable Words' that was an absolute blast. Also, we did a White Elephant Exchange and I got the full Night Walker DVD set, a series I've always been fond of.
4. Aaaand this morning I opened my prezzies from my family! Gift cards to a couple of places, some clothes from my mom, a great calendar with scenes from my home town, and-- best of all-- a chest with an assortment of bound flower-teas (like these) and a beautiful glass pot. I tried one of the teas this morning; there's green, white and black, three of each, and the one I tried was a beautiful aged Oolong, and it bloomed out in a lovely deep brown flower with a broad base. Also-- forgot to mention this-- I got a box from my older sister with a great bath-set and some cookies in it.
So, a very nice haul. ^__^ And I spoke to my little sister and according to her my gifts were all well-received (my nephew Adam's wearing two of the three surfer bracelets I made for him and his brother Alex has dubbed his new hand-knitted tuke his 'beer-drinking' hat for reasons unknown.) And there was a squabble over the scarf I made for Denise-- several people wanted it, which is amusing...
**sigh** A good day. And now I'm over at John & Linda's, watching the first of the Donald Strachey movies again and about to eat the turkey I cooked this morning. I still don't have all my boxes, but so it goes... the two late ones'll get here eventually, and I (supposedly) have some resolution on the missing-property one, which I don't really feel like talking about right now; tomorrow maybe, when it bothers me a little less.
Anyway... I hope everyone has a wonderful day full of family and other important things; stay safe and warm, y'all, okay? ^__^
THE LOOT: Well, lessee; let's go in order of appearance.
1. First off, two boxes showed up yesterday literally as I arrived home (the Post Office Guy was there in his little white truck, putting things in the apartment mailstand.) Both were really, *really* unexpected-- one was from dogmatix_san, who I haven't heard from in ages (and Mati? there's something coming to you as well that I've been wanting to send since last year; it has a story behind it, just a bit) and it was a marvelous tie-dye t-shirt kit, which I'll use with great glee.
2. The second package had me seriously puzzled-- it came from Canada. ??? The note inside explained, though-- it was my domino_effect Secret Santa gift, commissioned from a certain very fine hat-maker of my acquaintance! Whoever you are, Secret DE Santa, you ROCK LIKE GREAT BIG HUGE ROCKS! It's modeled off Bear, Serenity's scraggly half-grown kitten, and Kiro? You got it exactly right. I'll post pics later.
3. Last night at Sara & William's, I got a marvelous-looking book and a great Chinese hanten shirt; the entire party was fantastic as it was-- the food, the company, watching Pirates of the Carribean II & III and playing a weird Cthulu-ish boardgame called 'Unspeakable Words' that was an absolute blast. Also, we did a White Elephant Exchange and I got the full Night Walker DVD set, a series I've always been fond of.
4. Aaaand this morning I opened my prezzies from my family! Gift cards to a couple of places, some clothes from my mom, a great calendar with scenes from my home town, and-- best of all-- a chest with an assortment of bound flower-teas (like these) and a beautiful glass pot. I tried one of the teas this morning; there's green, white and black, three of each, and the one I tried was a beautiful aged Oolong, and it bloomed out in a lovely deep brown flower with a broad base. Also-- forgot to mention this-- I got a box from my older sister with a great bath-set and some cookies in it.
So, a very nice haul. ^__^ And I spoke to my little sister and according to her my gifts were all well-received (my nephew Adam's wearing two of the three surfer bracelets I made for him and his brother Alex has dubbed his new hand-knitted tuke his 'beer-drinking' hat for reasons unknown.) And there was a squabble over the scarf I made for Denise-- several people wanted it, which is amusing...
**sigh** A good day. And now I'm over at John & Linda's, watching the first of the Donald Strachey movies again and about to eat the turkey I cooked this morning. I still don't have all my boxes, but so it goes... the two late ones'll get here eventually, and I (supposedly) have some resolution on the missing-property one, which I don't really feel like talking about right now; tomorrow maybe, when it bothers me a little less.
Anyway... I hope everyone has a wonderful day full of family and other important things; stay safe and warm, y'all, okay? ^__^