Well, my gift package has been mailed! Secret Santee, there will be one more piece to come.

And, I picked up a box from my tricksy Secret Santa! it had my address for both the mailing and returning address, and there is no note that I can find that tells me who my Santa is!

The box was full of TJ goodies: Sea Salt and Pepper Rice crisps, Lindor truffles, a Revolution tea sampler, ginger peach Longevity tea bags and a Godiva dark chocolate and sea salt giant bar! Plus, a gluten free brownie mix!

Thank you, Still Secret Santa!

people who requested cards should start getting them soon.

eeeeeee! I got my secret santa present today, from Suzi! Or should I say the rest of my present? A couple of days ago, I got the bubble calendar ita! linked to a while back [link] but Suzi pretended it was part of the thank you for the TJs stuff I sent (which also netted me two bottles of nice Colorado wine). Today, I got a box FULL of neat stuff, most of which was made in Colorado, like a few different kinds of candy, and an Almond Honey drenched sponge, plus some roller girl candy cigarettes.

WHEEEEEE

Yay! I'm glad the box got there in time, smonster! Isn't that wrapping paper adorable? I'm wishing I had bought a second roll while I had the chance. The dog cookies are made by a local baker, and the only grain in them is oats. As for the candy, that's from a local confectioner I discovered when some friends of mine had a chocolate tasting party there. So, so good...

I got secret santa'd! THANK YOU! I love the Gertrude Stein book and the kimchi paste is awesome. Also, the pistachio crack? Can't stop eating it.

Secret Santa is amazing!

Thank you, Secret Santa, for the gorgeous scarf, delicious candy, and amazing looking coffee! Three of my favorite things! The scarf has such a lovely pattern on the ends, and it'll go with everything I wear in the winter.

Yay! The scarf is all non-wool and washable (cold water). The candy is from a local institution in my home town.

I got my card and (first) gift from my Secret Santa. I have not tried the chocolate orange candy yet, but they look delicious and the journal is full of pretty fiber art pictures (and some patterns that I definitely want to try) Thank you!

Msbelle is, again, the nicest. Part of my secret Santa gift included a donation, in my name, to Heifer International. Thank you! Now I picture a cow with my name tattooed on it.

YAY! Glad you liked the journal! I found that at my LYS and thought of you immediately.

Since it's the end of the year, I figure I better get my last hurrah in with an update to my last status report (in Lurkers): SailAweigh "Delurking 1: Because we don't always check our e-mail." Oct 6, 2012 9:15:17 am PDT

Since that post, I've been promoted into a supervisory position with a substantial raise. My new department is very appreciative of me and the people I supervise are very happy to have a layer between them and the academic staff, which didn't exist before. I'm kind of sad to be leaving the course development part of the old job, but it's nice knowing my name will be on the credits for the two courses I did work on. Who knows, I may still get a chance to get my fingers in, in the new department. We have one staff member who is responsible for updating our part of the division website, but I know she has problems with it. It's a good opportunity to take on more onerous tasks (for someone else, not me) and add value to what I bring to the department.

Overall, it's been a very good year for me. I'm almost afraid of the coming year! My kids are doing well. The daughter is quite successful at work, she bought a boat this past summer, which while it was a lot of fun for her she's starting to realize the maintenance costs are a little more than she's happy with. The trade-off for fun is responsibility and she's still working on that. The son and daughter-in-law are keeping it together in Phoenix, better than many past years. The son got his medical marijuana card! I'm not sure how easy/hard they are to get, but now that he has it, he asked for a blender for Christmas so he could make weed butter to cook with. He's having a NYE party tonight and making brownies for it. ::headdesk::

I have a group of friends coming over for drinks tonight, and I have a coupon for a free on-demand movie (got my cable back with the new job -- yay, more money!) We're going to nibble on brie, fancy salami, crackers and other finger foods. If we get really daring, we may go find some fireworks. Although, I have a feeling with the amount of booze and having one of those friends a bartender, it will mean staying where we are and watching the ball drop.

So, this year is ending on a satisfying note. I know this year wasn't as positive for many of the Buffistas, so you have my heart-felt wishes that 2013 treats you all as well as 2012 treated me.

Also, Tom, you should be getting one more secret santa present. It's not coming from me, so you might not recognize it as such. It's from a friend, Jo Estep, who's a graphic novelist; I hope you enjoy it!