the Christmas haul...

I know I tend to whine too much about the timing of Rich's Bahamas class. (And please do keep your finger crossed for me that we have a very light January snowfall this year, as I really don't want the extra chore of snow shoveling each day on top of taking care of three human children, one dog, two cats, six mice, one tarantula, two hissing cockroaches, and a tank full of guppies and snails.) But in actuality, the timing of his trip actually works in my favor. See, he feels great guilt in leaving me here in upstate New York, with the whole crew to take care of, while he's off teaching in the Bahamas. And as this guilt is being felt during those weeks leading up to Christmas, I rake in a pretty good pile of loot! (And if I keep up the "Oh, woe is me!" for long enough, it also relates into a pretty good haul for my birthday which falls a few weeks after he gets home.)

Anyway, this is what I got for Christmas:



*The Best of John Bellairs (A wonderful book for a family read from Nymeth)
*The Best of Roald Dahl (Also from the incredibly sweet Nymeth...I am soooo anxious to crack this one open)
*The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pickwater (another wonderful family gift, this one from Carl)
*Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott (Also from Carl...and I have to say that it meant a lot that he would pick out this particular book for me...thank you from the bottom of my heart, Carl!)
*Strange Roads by Peter S. Beagle (Admit it, you're feeling a tad envious, aren't you? It won't help to tell you that it's autographed either, will it? Again, thank you, thank you, thank you, Carl! I want to save this for once OUaT, but I'm not sure I'll be able to wait.)
--And the rest are all from Rich:
*Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos by H.P. Lovecraft and Others
*A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies by John Murray
*Just After Sunset by Stephen King
*The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales
*Grimms Complete Fairy Tales
*The Illustrated Treasury of Fairy Tales
*Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
*The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs
*The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
*The Silver Donkey by Sonya Hartnett
*Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
*Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
*The Ghost Writer by John Harwood
*My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier
*Solstice Wood by Patricia A. McKillip
*The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop
*Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America by John M. Barry
*The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda by Yaroslav Trofimov
*Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire That Helped Forge the Path to World War II by Joshua Hammer
*Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

And as if that isn't bad/good enough...I also acquired these over the holidays:



*An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (Because Looking for Alaska for was so freakin' good that I couldn't resist.)
*Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan (My sweet friend, Kara, was kind enough to pass this along.)
*The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Also from Kara. Thank you, sweetie!)
*The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu (Impulse buy.)
*Crimes Against Humanity by Adam Jones (Another impulse buy.)
*The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey (Just because it looked fun for school.)

I probably shouldn't mention at this point that Rich also gave me an Amazon gift certificate (free from using using credit card points), and I've got a bunch of books ordered. Or that my brother gave me a big B&N gift card, and we're headed there shortly. Oh my, oh my, oh my. At least I'm among folks who understand...

*****

I just wanted to mention one thing. Many of the books that Rich bought me came from my wish list, and would have earned people points in the Blame Game. And I know the game was supposed to go until the end of January. But I just haven't had the heart to keep up with it the past month. Dewey made it so much fun, with her "friendly competition" with Nymeth and with her not-so-subtle suggestions and such. I'm sure you all understand why I'm just going to end it. Nymeth and Dewey battled back and forth for the lead. And there's no question in my mind that Nymeth now deserves the prize. And of course, even though the game is over, I know you all will still be responsible for more book piles like those above! :)

tis the season...

...for torturing one's animal friends by taking silly pictures of them.



(I'm hoping he won't hold a grudge for too long. After all, like I told him, that wasn't nearly as bad as the hot dog costume the kids wanted me to buy him at Halloween.)

...for Secret Santa fun.



(It seems my Secret Santa has chosen to remain anonymous, so I hope he/she reads this. My Secret Santa sent an adorable little snowman card with an assortment of mini pieces of scrapbook paper and some stickers. I had to make sure to snap a quick photo before the boys got home, as I strongly suspect my little Collage Master Max will soon claim these for his own. But that's okay, because I know he'll make me a wonderful masterpiece! :) Thank you very much, Secret Santa--whoever you are!)

...for incredibly thoughtful gifts from incredibly thoughtful friends!



(Yep, just look what the postman brought me today! Nymeth sent me The Best of John Bellairs, and she knew I would just love it! I've been wanting to read The House With a Clock in Its Walls ever since I first read her awesome review. In fact, I inter-library loaned it, but while Annie read it, I didn't have a chance to before I had to return it. Oh, I'm so excited to dive right in! But I think we're going to make this a family read. :) Even though Annie's read the first one, she hasn't read the next two...so I think this is going to be a treat for all five of us! Thank you, thank you, thank you Nymeth! I absolute adore it!)

...for baking cookies. And baking cookies. And baking cookies.



(I totally stole this cute idea from my sweet friend Dawn. This is cookie type #5 for the season. Just a few more kinds to go, then we'll be set for neighborhood deliveries.)

...for getting really, really, really far behind on blog reading. I've made myself stay off the computer for the past few days, just trying to get things done around here. Still not ready for Christmas, and now I'm missing out on how everyone else is doing. :(
I hope to just blow everything else off one of these evenings soon, and just catch up with everyone. Hope when I do, I find you're all having a truly fabulous holiday season!

a bit of misinformation

Waaaaay back when I was in first grade, a couple of older girls tried to convince me that boys had cooties. Now these girls were wise and worldly, I mean we were talking third graders here! But to be perfectly honest, I always sort of doubted their claims. And over the years, I collected plenty of evidence to the contrary. In fact, I've pretty much learned that boys are really pretty cool.

Most recent check in the "boys are cool" column was added yesterday. Chris sent us a lovely package. Not only did he send a beautiful card with a handwritten note inside that makes me smile every time I think of it, but he sent Annie and I each an incredibly lovely gift. He sent me a beautiful monogram wax seal! I tried, but couldn't get a photo that came close to doing it justice. And he sent Annie a lovely little notebook. And a note that said he knew it wasn't big enough to hold her next novel, but maybe she could use it write short stories in. She's literally told me at least three times already that she can't wait to start her next short story, so she can use the notebook. Just look at that face, and try to tell me she doesn't absolutely love her gift:



Thank you so much Chris!