The Thought that Counts.......
I am so touched by the gifts I received for Christmas. Permit me to brag..........I am not bragging so much about the material goods as the sweet thoughts behind them........

Em read about the Holy Habits paper dolls here and ordered a set for me. I couldn’t believe it. They are so nice. And I tore my closet apart yesterday to find my 40+ year old ”It’s Me!” paper doll to try the habits on her. They fit!!! The habits do look good on me.

Em also read my bemoaning the loss of Teresa Bloomingdale’s I Should Have Seen it Coming When the Rabbit Died from our local library’s collection and tracked down a used copy for me from eBay or half.com or some such resource. I actually cried (a little - I’m not the lachrymose sort) and that is why she made me open it on the afternooon of the 24th, while we were alone. She didn’t want me to “break down” in front of the family.

Rick saw a Bouguereau print that I had used in making little Christmas cards for the people at work. He downloaded it, tweaked the colors to perfection, printed it out and framed it.

I received so many other things that showed people were truly thinking of me. I am touched.

No Jaguar........no diamonds.........no mink.................just the love and affection of my dear, dear family.

Oh, and there is the huge TV and DVD player that the kids chipped in to get us. (To bring us through the 20th and into the 21st century) A mixed blessing. It will take vigilance to make sure the gang is not hypnotized. And I couldn’t even work on the iMac yesterday with that stereo sound thing 18 inches to my left blasting the Count of Monte Cristo. I thought our little computer monitor hooked up to cable was quite nice, but I have to be gracious in accepting this and not go all Elvis and threaten to shoot the thing the first time I see something I don’t like. And the public library and video store are going more towards DVD’s so it is time to catch up. (Altho this is also a golden moment to start buying discarded VHS tapes - just like I did when out video store got out of the BETA business........)