I'll be honest, December has been a large pile of suck. A handful of job interviews, a larger pile of rejections for mostly "filler" positions, and a LOT of driving to see the kids up in Albany. There's a moment in those drives where the Spotify playlist just soothes my black heart and fractured soul.
Additional bummers?
No children around this year helping me make my Kjottbollar (Swedish Meathballs) and Limpa and other breads.
Nobody coming over Christmas Eve for dinner (Christmas Eve is always the superior holiday to Christmas Day), then me transporting them back to their Mother after pancakes Christmas.
Christmas Eve: With my sister visiting her in-laws in the Great White North this year, I packed up the food and drove down to Easton to visit my mother. I took care of stuff around the house, ran her errands, including a trip to Wal-Mart I never thought I'd return from, and we ate. Basic. Simple. She enjoyed the food but did NOT have a good day. Sixty years of smoking have caught up like gangbusters.
We didn't exchange gifts, but one arrived when I got home on the perfect day to count it as one.
Palladium had a Kickstarter for a new, expanded edition of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness. Two years later, eight months late, and a $25 flat shipping charge for the core book, my copy of the rules arrived two days earlier than projected. Trust me, I'm well aware of Palladium as a whole, and their Kickstarter history, so I'm not surprised, just miffed enough. But it's in my hands, and if that's not a Christmas miracle, nothing is.
Early Christmas morning, I recovered from a night of full-strength egg nog, and trekked the three and a half hour drive to see the kids, with a cooler full of bread and meatballs, two stockings, and a single wrapped gift.
I almost miss those early days of K-Mart/Wal-Mart Layaway, paying off the balance, and figuring out the logistics of it all. Most of it nowadays is Ulta, Sephora, and Barnes & Noble, so most of it fits in the stocking.
The lone gift too big for a stocking was A Place For All My Books for Maja.
Most of the gifts for dear old Dad were gag or food related, but I did get a few gaming-centric or -adjacent gifts.
The Hermit in the Garden by Gordon Campbell. A light romp through the history of hermits from Imperial Rome to Ornamental Gnome. It was referenced in Episode #675 of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff back in November and seemed like a perfect purchase.
Paints. I had specifically requested Citadel Seraphim Sepia wash, since I recently had an accident with one of the older, big bottles, and could not find it in stock at the last four stores I frequented. They actually have a Warhammer store within twenty minutes, and every was on stock (and allegedly on sale... although thirty-five years of history might bias be on believing that claim from the girls.
Not one for just getting an $8 jar of paint, they also got me
Zandri Dust - A Desert-y Tomb Kings color. I'm half-tempted to use it on my American Teddy Bears.
Mournfang Brown (Air-brush sized pot) - Brown is my favorite painting color, in all its shades, so I'll try it out. A little miffed the GW guys didn't question them (a simple "Do you have an airbrush machine?") but perhaps that is gatekeeping... from the hobby or the profit margin.
Nihilakh Oxide - A Necron corrosion color. All of the paints I can certainly use. (Michael's has been rubbish this past year, and they are strongly anti-Hobby Lobby, so I can't expect other sources.)
Christmas Playing Cards - When we played our Christmas Game this year, I mentioned my displeasure with the Gilded/Pulp style playing cards we were using for Fistful of Lead. Millie took that to heart and got me "Home for the Holidays" Bicycle deck. Very clean, gently themed... and guaranteed to be used for the Christmas games in the future, and hopefully more.
Glitter Ducks - We certainly had a bit of a duck theme this year (with one more discovered and added t other painting queue, see one of next year's posts for that one. Apparently I missed the Glitter Quacks at Five Below, but Millie did not. They're cute, plentiful, and after discovering Fishing28, I'm certain we can make a Duckin' 28 game. Worst case I'll collaborate with the young lady running a larger scale duck game at HMGS/Historicon.
Oh, and despite me packing a tote-full of games, we kept ourselves busy (and bruised) playing Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizaa repeatedly.
Outside of grabbing another copy of A Place for All My Books for my sister and husband after their return to Canada, I'm satisfied with my haul....
Scratch that, despite the distance and irregularity of my visits, my Dad Christmas List has never changed.
- Underwear
- Gold Toe Socks
- Undershirts
No comments:
Post a Comment