Plei, did Lee get your kitties this crack pad?

Ashton LOVES it.

Not Plei, but yes.

So does Perkins. still, after several months.

Also, those pictures still make me very happy.

I'm sipping wine from Colorado! AIFG! Thanks again, DebetEsse!

Yay! Which one did you open first?

I'm planning on buying a Wii when I can find one.

I selected the Sweet Baby Red to go with the Chinese dinner. Light and tasty. Did you see my note above? Your note on the box flap delighted me.

Sounds like a fine Christmas for you, my dear. Yay!

So does Perkins. still, after several months.

Ashton has dragged his into his bedroom. I guess he thinks Bay might try to steal it from him.

I did. I was a couple pages behind, so I couldn't respond. Glad you liked the note. I really did have a card. And it's still in my classroom.

The SBR is my friend T's favourite. (The other is the favourite of the lady at the winery)

I've spent the last hour reading this thread. I love hearing summaries of everyone's year, what was good, what was challenging. I love hearing the squees over purely Buffista prezzies being opened. I love everyone getting nostaligic over this place. This ethereal place of wires that is more important to me than some "real life" places I go.

I lurked here since TT #4 in early 2001. I finally started posting in #8 over the summer of 2001. I've been an on again, off again poster depending on Life and work stuff, but I've always always lurked, even when not posting.

Since I started on here, my life has changed a lot, some good, some not so good, but on the balance, it's been good.

In 2006, the bad has been mostly the decline of my dad's health. His 2 strokes in 2004 were bad and he will never recover from them. He finally went to a nursing home in Septemeber after my mom just about killed herself taking care of him at home for over a year.

The other bad? Work has been killing me this year. I've been putting in some serious hours and trying to balance work/school/life has been next to impossible.

Also, broke up with the SO. Although, in retrospect, I think this belongs in the good pile.

The good? My mom is doing much better now that Daddy's in the nursing home. She's been able to get some good sleep. She also took in my brother's dog and that's done her a world of good, too.

I had my annual tests done last month, and can now officially say that I am 4 years cancer free! Woot!

After 4 years, I finally finished all my coursework for my 2 year program. What? I worked full time and went to school part time, so it took longer to get through. But, I am through. And, I planned well and besides my car payment, I am debt free. Which is good, because I quit the above job in order to start student teaching in a couple of weeks. I will be unemployed for a few months and am a bit nervous about that, but my finances are lined up and good to go. My company also wants me to work part time as I can, so extra money, yay!

I am so excited to start my new career I can barely stand it. It's taken a lot of hard work and it doesn't even seem real. I suspect it won't really hit until I actually start.

Hey, guess what? The mail made it out of Denver! (Possibly some time ago. I just got back into town.) And... Nicole is awsome! I have the most adorable Opus postcards! And lots of Luna bars and chocolates (yum!) and cute little kitty print tissues and body scrubbers in holiday colors!

Thank you, Nicole! I sometimes live on Luna bars during tech(s), so thank you for helping with my continued existence (I hope you saved some to get you thru the current snowstorm). And the postcards are fantastic! I will have a hard time giving any of them up to mail. The tissues and the scrubbers are already in their respective places (purse and shower). And what's not to love about chocolate? (The first one I opened said, "Naughty can be nice" in the wrapper. hee)

First - thanks for making K-Bug twitch, she was dying to open the package for me, as if. The card is PERFECT - and what wait...no worries there at all.

Poor K-Bug (heh heh). I'm pretty sure I didn't try to be so incognito and that it had a return address label when I mailed it. Funny. It got there really fast! Go USPS! I would just like to note how difficult it is to find ANYTHING with a palm tree in Chicago in December. I was so happy to stumble upon that card.