My Blog! My Blog!

Happy holidays, everyone!

We've just gotten home from brunch and Christmas presents at my husband's mother's home (a family tradition!)

This year, we ignored the family Pollyanna and bought at least one gift for everyone we'd expected to show up. Despite that, we seem to have come home with more stuff than we left with. :-)

Best presents of all: A pair of tortoise brooches and a Viking trefoil brooch from Raymond's Quiet Press from my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law! This year, Amazon started plugging a software add-on which lets you browse any Website and add any item to your Amazon Wish List. Apparently, my relatives looked at my Amazon Wish List, where I had added the brooches, and bought them for me. Really, really sweet of them (especially since they know next to nothing about historic costuming in general, let alone my work!)

Other nifty presents: a hand-hooked bit of rug for a throw pillow; a milk steamer and some gourmet hot chocolate; a book on cuisine in the Arab world during the Middle Ages; a book about swordfighting (mostly theatrical, but with useful advice for people, like esrblog and me, who are training sporadically in genuine sword combat techniques) and Al Stewart's latest album, "Sparks of Ancient Light."

Pretty cool. I hope everyone who reads this at least has a warm house, a full belly, and reasonable prospects for financial security as we move into an uncertain 2009.

To everyone who reads my LiveJournal, happy Christmas!

I've spent today visiting and calling relatives and friends, giving presents, getting presents, and feasting on goodies (including more dark chocolate than I normally eat in a year!).

The presents I received included a number of items on my Amazon Wish List, most of which were books, but I also got other interesting and useful items such as a gorgeous teacup with a lid and basket that turn it into an impromptu tea-brewing device for one, knee-high stockings (good because my supply is depleted), a fire extinguisher for the kitchen (every house should have one!) and many other good things. esrblog and I got a $50 gift card for Barnes & Noble to share, from our friends pmat and shakati. Tomorrow, a plumber comes to fix our crotchety toilets. Life is good.

And now I'm tired. I was going to write a post about the meaning of Christmas, but I'm too tired. It shall have to wait.