OMWF was a good recruitment tool. Brought out the theater majors and musical fans.

So many of you found WX at about the same time I did. I found my way there avoiding television in September of 2001. Of course I assumed everyone else there had been around forever.

How I became a buffista talk always sends me to read the FAQ and Ettiquite pages. I think it's just the season, but they made me a little teary. I love the nostalgia of the FAQ and Ettiquite is just freaking cool.

I am madly in love with the idea that a bunch of smart, passionate, different, experienced people can get together and just agree not to be assholes, and it works.

I lurked/delurked waaaaaaay back on TT's Buffy 4. I got there through This American Life. Sometimes I wander off into real life, but I always come back.

WX alum... Burrell found me and dragged me to your table. Weirdly, I was on TT, but hadn't watched Buffy yet in those days.

Home at last.

Been a pretty good year, overall. I'm about to leave the crazy place and just got back from Mexico.

ETA some more good stuff:

• SF2F. So good to reconnect with some, and finally meet others in the flesh (and what flesh, hubba).

• Hanging out in Chicago with Sail, Kathy, Tom, even once vw.

• Weekending in Denver with Lee and Nicole, (not to mention my sweet barracuda-kitty and Lucy's soulmate Bailey) which was just so wonderful and gave me some much needed decompression at a very stressful time. Upgrading to first class for the trip home.

• Getting soused at a super-pricey wine bar with one of my mom's best friends and one of the most important people in my life. Taking a stretch limo 70 miles on T-day weekend to go to church with same.

• My beautiful Matilda, whom I have not even met.

• Mac, oh bless.

• Doing fake Amazing Race with my sister in Chicago and with my (ex)boss in Mexico.

• New tv, new computer, new Tivo. (New debt, urk)

• After nearly three years in my apartment, finally painting the walls an actual color, and lurving it

• Actually getting off my ass and running some 5ks

I haven't made much progress on the weight issue, nor on the social issues, but I've made some steps, and hopefully will continue on that path. I've let some financial things go recently, which I need to get back on top of, but this new job will help a lot with that. My sister has a better, more fulfilling job. My father is finally taking some minor care for his health. My brother is still struggling with a lot of stuff, and I wish I could help him more, but he's got to pull some things together on his own.

It's not all perfect; it's not even all okay. But I'll take it.

And now, I'm home home home on my own couch with a glass of wine and an entire Box of Vice from Santa Lee - smokes, mojito mix, three kinds of chocolate, and other good stuff. Yay!

TEPPY!!! It's here! Thank You! You wonderful, spicy, HAWT mama, you. I'm amazed and full of glee and squee and bounce. Thank you!

Y'all, just in case Tep's personality alone didn't say it all, let me tell you how amazing (and totally generous) La Tep is. First of all, cutest card ever sitting on top of the packing peanuts, with lovely words written inside, as well. Then I unearthed two fab candles from the box - one is called Sex On The Beach (I think that one is going in my bedroom) and the other is called Luna, and they both smell heavenly. The next thing I pulled out was a tub of TJ's mint cocoa (chocolate and mint just *belong* together) and a box of TJ's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's (think oreo's with candy cane flavored creme filling). OMG YUM! Take a wild guess at what I'm having for dessert tonight. (Okay, I lied. I just now ripped open the box of cookies for a taste test. Definitely Teh Yum.)

And now back to the box... because YES, THERE'S MORE! I am also the proud owner of twelve (TWELVE!) Handmade By Teppalicious magnets that I've already proudly displayed on my fridge, two Handmade By Teppalicious mix cds full of all the great Christmas songs, a Too Much Candy necklace (which will come in *quite* handy on NYE), a Lush King Of Skin bar (one of my absolute Lush favorites and will also come in handy just before going out on NYE), and a Nightmare Before Christmas 2007 calendar! I can hardly wait to hang it up in my bedroom, right next to the Jack Skellington lights that adorn my bedroom window.

Can you believe all of that fit into one box?!?!?!?!

But wait, there's one more thing, and even though it's small and I can't eat it, it's still my favorite prezzie in the box. I'm not sure that I can describe it well enough so go here and check out the red devil on the far right. He's a Demon Guardian keychain that'll protect me from Teh Evil of the world. Squee! A little Devil keychain. And he's holding a pitchfork!

Love! Everything! Especially Sekrit Santa Teppy! Thank you, sweetie. I'm blessed to know someone as incredibly thoughtful as you.

That keychain is so cute! I like the zombie, too.

Ginger, thank you!

My fabulous Secret Santa sent me a lovely basket full of goodies and good wishes. First, the basket itself is lovely - red-handled, woven, round basket with a plaid red and green border with little Scotties circling the top. Love. Then! Homemade peppermint bark. Which is so delicious and also made me realize how often I happened to post about peppermint bark this last month - Hello, subconscious? You are so not subtle. Also? Rock on! (Heh, I think it's on my Deena sheet, too.) So yum.

There's also an adorable, plush penguin who, when squeezed, wishes Merry Christmas and a ho, ho, ho. So cute. Then, I have a lovely, bone white tea mug with a steeper and lid, decorated with pandas romping happily among the bamboo trees. That's right, folks, a penguin and pandas.

When I opened the box, one of my favorite scents wafted upwards, which came from a Karma Komba soap from LUSH. Mmmmmm. Heavenly. Then, there is a lovely, hand-carved, jade good health (thank you!) charm - a small gourd, with three smaller charms dangling below, all in green jade on a red cord. Beautiful.

And finally, a pendant, made by Ginger - a small, square two-sided frame with a lovely saying on one side and the symbol for serenity (Serenity!) on the other side, hanging from a black ribbon. I love it, and it is just the kind of thing I wear, too. Oh, oh! And the card has a computer on the front with a Christmas tree on the screen - how perfect is that?

Thank you so much, Ginger, for such a thoughtful, generous, buffista-riffic (LUSH, penguins, pandas, Serenity - awesome), good wishes-including Christmas treat. I have such a huge smile on my face right now.

Yay! I'm so happy you liked it, Jen.

Nicole! I'm SO glad it finally got there!!! And now maybe my cryptic comment upthread about "once you get it, you'll know why it was delayed" makes sense. I think that, between the deluge of Xmas mail and the badass snow you had last week, the package got hung up.

Anyway -- yay!!!

even though it's small and I can't eat it, it's still my favorite prezzie in the box. I'm not sure that I can describe it well enough so go here and check out the red devil on the far right. He's a Demon Guardian keychain that'll protect me from Teh Evil of the world. Squee! A little Devil keychain. And he's holding a pitchfork!

I'll tell you a secret about the devil keychain -- I packed up the whole box, taped it securely, and taped the address sheet on the top. Then I went in my bedroom and was hauling out other people's prezzies to wrap, when I found the box from Uncommon Goods, which held, among other things, the devil keychain. D'oh!

After briefly debating just sending you a separate wee package for the devil keychain, I sliced open the tape along the *bottom* of the box, so as to not disturb the address sheet on the top, and wiggled the devil keychain in there carefully, and then re-taped the box.

The next thing I pulled out was a tub of TJ's mint cocoa (chocolate and mint just *belong* together) and a box of TJ's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's (think oreo's with candy cane flavored creme filling). OMG YUM!

I knew there isn't a TJs out there, and a little Deena!birdie told me you were crazy for mint chocolate. When I saw the candy cane Joe-Joe's, I *knew* I had to intervene in order to bring the two of you together.

I'm so glad it finally got there, and that you like it all!