It's a lady robot, too.
The holidays are finally over, and I couldn’t be more pleased about it. This season, particularly was over-stuffed and full of drama, with meeting MamaDork’s manpanion (post to come), a death in the Dude family (ditto), and the birth of two premature step-nephews and a full-term niece (who has the rockin’-est name ever) on my side (double ditto), and travel to see if not all and sundry, then most. And then snowmageddon out here…and we’re still not quite over that.
I’m ready for things to get back to quote-unquote normal, with regular plans and tasks, with days of the week that mean something. Over the last two weeks, I’ve totally lost track of what day it was, which partially explains why we’re having a Monday Fun Thread. The rest of the explanation is that a) many of us probably have a fun new thing or two that we got for Christmas, or bought on some excellent sale for ourselves and b) I’m out of practice with the blogging and commenting, and you might be, too, so this should help sort us out.
So: what lovely new thing, however minor or silly, is thrilling you recently? I got a stack of books, a pile of kitchen toys, and delicious snacks to choke a horse this year, so I’m a happy happy dino, but I think my favorite thing, which I fondle incessantly and over which I coo delightedly, is something I bought myself off Etsy leading up to Xmas: my robot necklace.
Bleep bloop. What’s yours?
Spouse bought me a digital picture frame. Been thinking about getting one for years, but he did all the research and got one that is super easy to use and update. The nice thing about it is it has a “collage” mode, so I can look at about 6 pics at once.
I put all the pet photos on it (cats, dog, gerbils), more poignant because we had to have our dog put down Dec. 28th and now I can still see various pics of my cute sweet doggy all the time.
So sorry to hear about your puppy, Ms. M, but I’m glad you still have photos and sweet memories.
The Dude’s parents got us a digital frame, but we haven’t even taken it out of the box yet. I hope it has “collage” as an option.
Best gift was my 12 cup coffee maker with double coffee filter set up, graphite water filter, automatic on option, and self cleaning function. I am a grad student, I need a 12 cup coffee maker and it is GLORIOUS.
Ms. M, so sorry about your dog as well, someone on campus had to put hers down on Christmas Eve and it was very, very sad.
Ooh, Etsy…I am resisting the siren call of several items on there. So far I have been mostly unsuccessful.
My friend made me this really great body scrub – sugar and oil and ground coffee and eau de vanilla oil or whatever, it smells GREAT and I want to eat it. Bonus, she didn’t drop a lot of $$ on me, which I appreciate.
Best gift was a 2TB external hard drive, which I desperately need to back up all my data, music, and pictures. I’d seen it on sale for an amazing deal (but still not cheap) on Black Friday in-store only. As I was out of town and nowhere near said stores, I asked a friend who usually hits the sales to pick one up for me and I’d pay him back. Instead he wrapped it up and gave it to me.
Also pretty cool is the pocket handbook of Swahili, which I’ll use when I go to a conference in Tanzania later this summer. I just think it’ll be sooo cool to be able to say that I speak some Swahili.
I got citrus trees for Christmas! I now own a kaffir lime, a moro blood orange and a meyer lemon. I just bought bamboo pots – 1 each of green, orange and yellow – to repot them into in the next few days.
Also sorry to hear about the dog.
One of my friends made me a knitted vulva! It has made me chuckle constantly since Christmas.
I am also totally envious of the robot necklace! That is awesome.
My favorite thing from Christmas wasn’t actually mine, but my girlfriend’s: a TARDIS usb port that makes the sound of the TARDIS taking off when you plug something into it. Hanna and I have been playing with it pointlessly all week and giggling gleefully. You can see a picture at Hanna’s blog (bottom left-hand) along with the cuff I gave her from JezebelCharms (UK) at Etsy that is designed after the Doctor’s watch in Dr. Who: “Family of Blood.”
Ms M, I’m sorry to hear about your beloved puppy.
In terms of new gagdety things – for those that know me I have such an aversion to shopping that it has been suggested that a t-shirt needs to be made for me with the saying “shopping – do not like” on it. To wear whilst shopping so I’m not repeating that phrase at random intervals.
But I digress, I needed a sports bra, and a good friend took me to the post boxing day sales where I found a cheap sports bra.
I haven’t used it yet because I’ve been struck with the flu and an ear infection*. But I’m excited that I have one that should be of better comfort to my breasts.
* I live in Australia so having a fever in summer is not fun at all. /side comment
Mackey- I seriously need that shirt! I think there is quite a market for it among women esp, who are “supposed” to like to shop.
My son kept asking me what I wanted for Christmas and my response was, “A house!” And I got it!
We found the perfect house to rent with only one day to look and we get to move into it tomorrow! It’s not exactly small or frivilous but it was exactly what I wanted (and Husband and I didn’t actually get any Christmas presents this year because of the move).
@ MS M: my sincere condolences on the loss of your pup. We put our beloved cat,Jessie, down in October, and I miss him every day.
We haven’t done our family gift exchange yet. That will happen in a couple of weeks when my brothers come in for a visit. But Mr MM gave me a very toasty fleece-lined hoodie from LL Bean. I’m cold from October until May, so I’m loving this.
I can’t decide which I want more: citrus trees or a knitted vulva! The Dude is on the market for ANOTHER external HD (he does graphics work, so: huge files, and he never purges anything. What kind did you get, viajera?
ETA: a house! WingStaff, Happy Christmas, indeed!
My boy got me roller skates! I felt like a kid all season – asking for, anticipating, and bragging about my new roller skates. I am VP of newly forming roller derby league, (a rather expensive hobby) and have been stuck in the brown boots of shame (rentals) for months. Now I have a shiny pair of R3 speed skates with pink Flat-Out wheels and I’m unstoppable (literally – since I’m not good at stopping yet…)!
The boy’s mom always spoils us both in an attempt to make up for poverty stricken Xmas pasts – she got us all sorts of fancy kitchen stuff, a down comforter, and then lots of cool stuff for me (shoes, fingerless gloves).
I avoided seeing my family this year and thus my holidays rocked.
Like AmBam’s boy’s mother, my in-laws are very much trying to make up for poverty of Christmases past. So they took us to the beach in Mexico for five days. Favorite gift to me this year! It was wonderful to dig our toes in the sand and explore tide pools with our two now-toddlers (youngest just learned to walk).
My absolutely favorite gift this year, though, wasn’t to me. It was to my young sons.
My mother died in September, a week after Labor Day. On her and my brother’s last driving trip across the country, they stopped at Churchill Downs. My mother loved horse racing. (Didn’t like betting, just loved horses.) In the gift shop, she found this wonderful, stuffed, ride-on horse that made clip-clop and whinnying noises when you pressed its ear. She called to see if my boys would like it. Of course!
Then she died three days later. I forgot about the horse. But my brother didn’t. Two days after she died, he called the shop where she had put the toy on hold. And he bought it and had it shipped to us so the boys could get the very last gift she ever bought. It was the same one she’d handled and picked out – they only had the one. She loved buying gifts, and was very good at it.
The boys love the horse. So do I.
An iPhone from my parents and new earmuff-style Sennheiser earphones from The Boyfriend. I am addicted to both. I got aforementioned Boyfriend a glockenspiel, since he has had a growing obsession with percussion instruments in the past few months—he literally could not leave it alone when I was visiting him this past week, ha.
Ms. M, I’m sorry for your loss. And elibard, I’m even sorrier for yours, but that’s a beautiful story and an even more beautiful brother.
On a lighter note, my beloved husband gave me a Kindle. I haven’t even used it yet, but I’m giddy with anticipation. And my son picked out this chopping tool for slicing onions and peppers evenly that he’s seen our next door neighbor use. I adore it, both because it’s cool, and because my three-year-old made the connection that when he saw a cool kitchen tool, his mom would like it.
My sister has been struggling for several years with an eating disorder and depression. This summer, after a particularly hard year, she left the nest for a change of scenery in Montreal. Seeing her over the holidays was the best thing ever! She was the happiest and most relaxed I have seen her in years. No thing could beat that.