Gifts and Dinosaur Shit

Today Mom sent me an email. She ordered my Christmas present and had it shipped straight to me. Awesome. I'll have Ron hide it in his closet and trot it out on Christmas.

I also got an email from a lady in Canada. I swapped her a book for some leftover yarn scraps (I got the scraps). I'm happy. The book cost a lot of money so I wanted it to go to someone who'll use it. God knows that person never would have been me. I also sent her some hot sauce from Louisiana. Hey, I doubt she can get Lousiana Gold in Alberta. She sent me an email. Thanked me, she loves hot sauce, can't wait to get into the sauce and the book. Yay.

I love handing out driver candy, too. I've been known to give a headache remedy or two as well.

I left Ron a piece of candy on his pillow. Luckily it was wrapped. When he's home, he's probably lying down. He laid down on the piece of candy and melted it. He put it in the fridge, I'll put a nice piece in there too. I love to spoil him in little ways.

This year I'll probably make most of my gifts. One gift I'll have made for someone. But it's handcrafted. Everyone else, homemade. My homemade gifts have always been well received.

One thing I won't be making this year are knitted slippers. I can't stand the thought of someone getting up to use the bathroom and slipping in the slippers. "Heather, I broke my arm because of your slippers." No thanks. I really considered it, though.

The only thing I have to make in fairly short order is a hat for my newborn nephew. Baby hats work up fast, though.

I'm not sure what I want myself this year. I think I'll ask Ron for an affordable spindle (about $20). I have loads of fiber, dyestuff, and all kinds of knitting needles to play with. Fun. I also have crochet hooks, stitch dictionaries, and vintage pattern books. Heck, I even have some old macrame books.

So Ron gets me a spindle, probably. He won't have a long list this year. I generally get Ron warm things. I might get him some washable wool socks. I know, "boring".

I don't want jewelry. I don't want expensive electronics. Ron was delighted when we went to Sam's Club. We had lots of time. We decided to look at electronics. I was happy to see a 20-26 inch HDTV. I don't want a big one. A smallish one is fine. I'm the only one watching it, anyway. We're getting that for my birthday next year ("They'll be cheaper by then, too, Ron.")

Ron always called diamonds and jewelry "dinosaur shit" because it's just carbon, basically. My engagement ring would probably cost about one mortgage payment to replace. I love it and I love what it represents. I don't need anything else. My watch works fine and I don't like earrings. Besides, I can't really see myself wearing a "rock" while taking out the dumpster.