christmas pressies

In addition to the pressies mentioned in the video, I also got (just today):

-an owl hat
-a recipe box
-a bird's nest necklace (like I made my mom, aunt, oma, and grad student)
-chapstick
-Barnes and Noble gift card
-$25
-an owl necklace
-a snowman that glows different colors (JUST LIKE MY GLOW CUBE!)

Christmas day was spent drinking an assortment of alcoholic drinks, but especially wassail which my mom made from scratch (my aunt helped her make the spices though which involved a lot of shaved oranges and smashing things with hammers). My oma and opa came over and we had a delicious dinner of cheesy mashed potatoes, tri-tip, green bean casserole, rolls, and salad (and wassail). There was a moment where I freaked out a little, but that passed and we were a merry family for the rest of the day. The night was spent reading the bird book I actually got for my mom (whoops) and watching my brother play Skyrim. I actually started playing Skyrim today. I'm a wood elf and completely missed that you could change genders, because when my brother came into the room he was like, "Why are you a guy?" Welp. I chose to be a wood elf instead of a reptile person because I wanted to be able to command animals, though I didn't really figure out how to until I was in the first town you go to, and then I tried to command a chicken and it didn't work. Also apparently you can only use the command animals power once a day. So I wasted it on a chicken that then immediately walked away from me and nestled in some thistle. Also "OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD" was my token chant as I was learning the game, especially when I went up against six giant ass spiders. At once point you have to sneak around a bear, and then I couldn't figure out how to unsneak so I was stuck creeping about, which took HOURS to get anywhere until my brother came and helped me turn it off (p.s. for all those who think I'm just completely autistic, we have the computer version of the game that we purchased through Steam. I'm completely unfamiliar with the keyboard and mouse aspects of gameplay since I'm much more comfortable with a game controller (which I have for my own computer) so that's why I'm so bad at it all. I just wanted to protect my honor a little).

These days have been filled with PLAY PLAY PLAY. I'll post about them later when I'm less drunk (I just got back from Book Club) and less tired.

a melting pot

There has been a lot of stuff going on, some bad and some good.

We got our Christmas tree but we haven't decorated it yet, so I'll post pictures once it's nice and beautiful.

We found out that one of my dogs has an autoimmune disease that has a 60% mortality rate when we took him into the vet to check up on his ears, which were bothering him. I expected an ear infection, not this heavy news. I'm still crying about it. Right now we're just grateful that he's acting normally and is happy.

This boy inspires me more than I can say. I am so impressed by him. He is going to make a difference and I hope that I can do the same.

I'm almost done with finals (yay!) and only have to turn in my final short story for fiction writing tomorrow, and then I'm completely done. I was going to go into the lab today, but after hearing about Winston's illness I decided I'm going to spend the day at him with him while I revise this story.

Let us brighten up this post with talk of presents!

I have gotten some Chrimbo shopping done when procrastinating studying for finals, as well as some awesome Christmas creations for my franz! I will avoid posting presents for friends I know read my blog, but here are the pressies I've gotten so far.

Mom



(I've also made the bird's nest necklaces for other females in my family, as well as my graduate student)

Dad



(but it's worth it because I know he'll really enjoy this)

Gabe



Alibus



(I actually got this for her for her birthday this year, but I had it packed away then so it is now here Christmas present!)

Mia



This is what I've gotten done so far. The rest of the week will involve decorating the tree tonight, lab time, turning in my final short story (hurray!), going out dancing and drinking on Friday night, and Christmas shopping with Natal on Sunday. Plus I've cheered up a little thinking about Christmas and getting in the spirit.