Happy Holiday Week

There is no giveaway today, as Mod R should have this week off. I say should because sometimes she will sneakily work anyway. So this is just a life and everything post.

It’s a warm, damp morning in Texas. We are sitting at 60 degrees, and moisture saturates the air, so dense that you half expect the diffuse morning light to start dripping condensation. The house is quiet. I have a pot of Tim Horton’s coffee for Gordon when he gets up. I’m drinking Fortnum and Maison Christmas tea, a seasonal blend with cocoa nibs, cloves, and safflower. It’s delicate and light spiced. I opened Mod R’s Christmas gift early. Who can blame me?

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Most of the gifts are wrapped. Kid 2 and I braved the outlets on Friday and then Gordon and I returned on Saturday. It was chaotic and crowded, and after we raided the toy store. It was Toys R Us. I thought they were out of business, but this store just opened and they packed so much into their retail space. It was like the kids’ childhood in a box. Afterward, Gordon took me to outback for an early dinner. I got a ridiculous drink with a stuffed Koala on my straw. Afterward we went to Sams to get cowboy steak for Christmas dinner.

Normally I am not a fan of crowds, but there was something about the churn of people this time that made me feel alive and happy. I might have spent too much time in front of the computer this holiday season. I am not sure how to describe it. I sat at the Outback, watched people and felt oddly connected. It was reassuring.

The groceries for the Christmas dinner are bought. The tree is finally up.

Most of the presents are wrapped. I only have a few stragglers left. Oh and this anonymous gift came.

My money is on my sister (cousin)-in-law. Heh. I should know, but in my defense, so much stuff came to the house.

Jessie Mihalik sent delicious tea. I’m still melting over her new fae romantasy. She read Maggie, and she says that it’s not terrible and that she “white-knuckled it through the last 10%”, so hopefully you will enjoy it when it comes out. Jeaniene, true to her super-villainess form, sent Godiva chocolate, and I got her back by reciprocating with toffee cake. Jean Kwok sent stunning flowers. She has a romantasy coming out with a wuxia flavor and I’m so excited for it. Patrick and Grace Draven stopped by and brought us an enormous cowboy steak. I used it as a practice run for Christmas dinner and it was to die for. Since I’m back on meds, I have very little appetite, but I’ve been circling that steak like a shark. Grace and I chatted for awhile, and I’m super excited for her new romantic fantasy. It’s going to be awesome.

It felt so nice to be wrapped in friendships this holiday season. I felt so comforted. I kind of had a rough time after finishing Maggie – I am not even going to tell you about the recurring nightmares – and all of the conversations I had with friends put me back together somehow.

I am excited for Christmas now. We are mostly prepped. I still have a small project to finish. This year I wanted to do a small handmade gift, but I didn’t get anything knitted. I had a bit of a carpal tunnel flare up, and crocheting and knitting have been slow. So I made custom wax melts.

I think they turned out. I don’t know if they will be fragrant, but my hands smell amazing after all that wax handling. I still have two other fragrances to go. I’m thinking may be red and yellow? I could mix them together into one bottle. Or maybe I will keep them separate. I kept the packaging so, I will just pop them right back into the boxes and wrap them up that way. I was very careful with the temperature, so I hope it works.

I still need to finish some chores and clean the house. But it seems manageable.

I am at once ready and not ready for the new year. On one hand, I had a nice break, but we need to hit the ground running at the beginning of the year if we are going to get Hugh out. And for some odd reason, you guys really loved Puffles. Even Mod R was like, “They are obsessed with Puffles.” We will need to think on that some more. But contractual work takes priority.

And Maggie 1 is massive. We are trying to come out with a title for it, because Maggie the Undying would be an awesome series name. I’m leaning heavily toward This World Will Not Kill Me. I know it’s odd but I like it. And it tells you right away what it is. Maggie 2 will need to be equally massive. ::exhales:: Nope, not going to think about it.

On the game-front, I finally gave Enshrouded a chance. I set it to super wimpy difficulty and built a village on top of the northern Pillar of Creation. I will do a separate post on it. Because of the hand issues, I couldn’t really mine as much as I wanted, so I downloaded a storage world and I periodically raid it for stone and building blocks. I made a crypt for my necromancer and it is hella creepy, so I’m thinking of moving it so it’s not the first thing I see when I port to my base.

Well, my tea is gone, and I need to pour the new batch of wax. Onward!