Oh, yay! (Both that they got there so fast and that you will be visiting.) My mother (who is the Tea Drinker in my family, I'm Team Coffee all the way) really loves that tea, so I thought you might enjoy it as well.

EEP EEP EEP!

Hec just came by to drop Matilda off for an afternoon at work with me, and he brought along a package that had just come from the BEST SECRET SANTA IN HISTORY. Matilda helped me open it all and there has been so much squeeing.

First, a box of wee DIY origami Totoro critters (including Catbus!), which I only hope I can manage to assemble since the instructions are all in Japanese.

Next, in a salute to Santa's region of origin, a pack of Necco wafers.

Then, more closely local, rosemary truffle sea salt caramels from McCrea's Candy in Boston.

Then, even more locally, three delicious bags of tasty spiced nuts (chocolate lavender almonds, sea salt & lemongrass cashews, and cayenne mango almonds) from Q's Nuts of Somerville.

And lastly and most magnificently, from far far far far oh so far away, out in the black, KAYLEE'S PARASOL.

Jesse, you are the rockin'est cowgirl EVER. I love every little bit of this oh so much!

KAYLEE'S PARASOL. I am so thoroughly swouncing!

Aw, I'm so glad! I was afraid you might have the parasol already, because it seemed so very perfect for you!

I did not already have it! It's exactly the sort of delicious fannish extravagance I long for but never actually get for myself (see also: my wee little puppet man Angel and my Mary Poppins parasol, both gifts from Hec because I just would never for my own self).

I love it like crazy cakes.

That is an awesome package! Have I mentioned that I love us?

Do we still do year-end posts, or is this just for Secret Santa-ing? I don't want to disrupt the Secret Santa thread with self-indulgent rambling.

I want end of year posts!

t /demanding

I want self-indulgent rambling!

Well, 2013 was one hell of a year for me. I've had huge joy and huge stress, and I realized as I was thinking about this self-indulgent rambling that I can't even try to balance the joy and the stress against each other on some cosmic scale, as if to say "Well, sure, there was stress, but the joy overcame it!" Because it didn't work that way -- the stress didn't make the joy less, and the joy didn't actually make the stress less.

You all may have heard I got married (well, actually, engaged and married in 7 months). Obviously, that was -- and is -- 2013's HUGE JOY, beyond words. Life with Tim is a gift I never, ever dreamed I would receive. (Not that it's perfect, all unicorns and rainbows, by any means; sometimes I want to kill him.)

Having my brother officiate at the wedding was utterly perfect. I don't really even have words for it. (The last dance of the night was supposed to be a romantic song, and I would dance with my new husband and cry from the emotion. Instead it was the Pina Colada song, and I danced with my brother, because we love that song.)

*Planning* the wedding, however, was from HELL, partly because it coincided with losing my job and looking for a new one. I know some people enjoyed wedding planning, but it was stressful as hell for me.

The honeymoon was fantastic, wonderful, and all the other superlatives. The bonus was getting to see Buffistas at the end of the trip, and the unexpected PERFECT presents from Polter-Cow. (Seriously. SO PERFECT.)

I lost my job after 18 years when my company sold the journals to a much larger publisher. It allowed Big!Boss to give us a good severance, and they covered our health insurance through the end of the year, so that was an enormous help. But still -- it was rough. Probably for the best, moving forward, new things, blah blah blah; I get that. Still unbelievably stressful.

And then I was offered a new job the day before the wedding, with a Large Medical Editor that publishes several journals. I was thrilled -- still am thrilled, because I really do enjoy it, and I work from home, which I more or less enjoy most days. It's freelance, and is only part-time, and so I need to look for more freelance work to make up the balance. That, too, stresses me out. I worry about money all the time.

My blood pressure has shot up (I wonder why), but my doctor increased my BP meds and I'm working out harder at the gym, and that should help. t edit I hope.

My dad's health isn't great, which is something that I'm always generally aware of, but some days he does great and looks good, and other days, not so much. The wedding pictures really pointed that out -- that was not one of his better days, but he powered through because, hey, wedding. I'm just so grateful he could walk me down the aisle.

Tim's dad's health isn't great, either -- he's developing dementia, and really can't live alone for much longer, but insists he'll have to be carried out of his house in a coffin (as opposed to moving to assisted living). The next year is going to be really difficult, I suspect, starting with getting the family all on the same page (one of Tim's brothers thinks his dad is just being antisocial and is just fine when he wants to be; suffice it to say that I violently disagree, and think it's a grave disservice to ignore his increasing dementia).

So, huh. It doesn't sound like 2013 was that great for me (except, hey, wedding). It *was* stressful, no question. It continues to be stressful. But I'm still fairly happy most days. My life is really rich and full.

And I am, as always, so SO grateful for all of us, that I can come check in here any time and all my Buffistas are here. I love you guys.

So self-indulgent and whiny, it killed the thread. Boom.