I'm going shopping for secret santa gifts this afternoon... sorry for the delay, giftee!

I'm doing the same for my santa gifts Laga. I hope to do it this weekend.

Me three! I'm hoping to send them tomorrow.

Yeah, I've been waiting for feedback, but I think I'm just going to go out and buy something this weekend.

Mine's been bought since before the holidays and sitting under my desk waiting for my life to fucking calm down so I can mail it.

But my gift arrived today! And the mailroom guy put the big box right behind my chair without saying anything, so naturally I almost fell right over/on it. And then I cut myself opening it and got blood all over the box and the packing peanuts and the wrapping. Quite the display of grace, I tell you what.

But not on the gifties! So now I have yummy Peet's Coffee and treats and some quite lovely book plate and a calendar which I may not put out on the desk just yet but which I'm very glad to have. Thanks, Oakland mystery santa!

I'm really taking the slacker part to heart. I hope to have my shopping done this weekend.

You know, if you delay long enough you can be EARLY for Christmas 2009.

Sox!!!

You're amazing! I think I jumped for 15 minutes (well, not all of them, but there were enough of spontenious happy-jumps-in-the-air).

Extra glee will be provided, with details, in about 30-40 minutes. But I just had to write how awesome you are first.

Thank you! {{{{Sox}}}}

(Continue glee)

So I'm coming home, and on my desk there's a package. A package that's wrapped in a bag saying:

Dear Customer,

We sincerely regret that the enclosed postal item sustained damage during...

Well, you get the picture. It's gonna be a long post as is, and I think everything got here alright, but I was a little bit worried for a few minutes - I mean, someone is sending me a gift all the way from U.S, and the post decided to screw things up?

So I'm opening it, and inside there's a pirate lunchbox! Just like I wanted and needed! So I squeed, and when I picked it up to open it, it made noise. And I went "oh-oh, it must be broken somewhere!".

But you see, there were EVEN MORE GIFTS inside the lunchbox. And from that moment on, every time I spotted yet another gift, I had the same reaction like that animal (turtle? I can't remember) from Finding Nemo: "Whoa!".

First, there was the card, and it was written from right to left (as in, the right side of the card was the start, just as in Hebrew!). And it took me some time, but I was mostly a good girl and tried to have enough patience to read it all before starting unwrapping the gifts. You see, I don't get to read English handwriting, almost at all, so it took me some time. I'm gonna have to repeat it now that glee and excitement are setting down a bit, to make sure I haven't missed a thing.

And then. There were chocolates (Hershey and coconut-curry (!) chocolate milk).
And stickers.
And mixtape I'm dying to listen to ASAP (!!!)
And headphones (because Sox is smart and knows I need to listen to her mixtape somehow, duh!)
And then. There was a Pirate. Devil. Duckie! Now, I don't know if it's an American thing everybody knows, but I laughed so hard at him. Sox, he's perfect! I'll have to name him. And the song that comes with the information about him? PRICELESS.

Thank you so much. And this board in general. I felt so loved by you the past few weeks. Every time I felt like I needed a hug, I came here. Care and gift packages were sent to me, and this alone, regardless of their incredible contents, never stopped to amaze me. Thank you so much. You're amazing, twisted, loving bunch of people, and the best board I ever had the pleasure to meet. This is a really not-that-great year for me (I'm counting it from September, the Jewish year), full of death and fears and challenges, but you give me such a golden perspective, and something to lean against, and suddenly all the shit seems not so bad or dominating.

You're just keeping the smile on my face, and finding new ways of doing so every time.

And this time, it's with pirates. AWESOME! So, Dear God: I know I'm Jewish and everything, but this Christmas thing? Starting to look good.

yay!!

I'm so glad it made it there in one piece and that you liked it! I wish I could have gotten it to you sooner.

the mix is ecclectic - the last song moreso than the others... Feel free to ask why.