Secret Santa Update!

Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful day with family and friends.  My husband and I are spending a quiet day at home, but later on we will Skype with my family in Winnipeg. 

Ok, I admit I couldn't wait to open my two remaining gifts from Secret Santa, but I did make it until Friday, which isn't too bad for me.  And I was thrilled with what I received (over and above the reading journal and the chocolates and the coffee):

Two books on my wish list!

Funnily enough, these are the only books I received as gifts.   I think people assume I've read everything or already have the books I'm interested in. 

Once again, thank you to my Secret Santa, Sheila at Book Journey for the wonderful wonderful gifts.  They are all perfect. 

Happy holidays!

Secret Santa Came!

I'll admit it .... after my bad experience with Secret Santa last year I was getting a bit concerned this year when as of Saturday nothing arrived at my doorstep.  But today, on returning home from running a few errands I found a package on my doorstep with the following goodies:

  And being an excited kid, I just had to open one of the gifts, which was:

It's a lovely reading journal which is different from many others I've seen and I can't wait to start filling it up.

The other two wrapped gifts are going to remain un-opened until Christmas (if I can wait that long); but I might have to open the chocolate and try the coffee out before then.....

And I know the Secret Santa "rules" say we aren't supposed to reveal ourselves until after Christmas but I must thank my Secret Santa -- Sheila at Book Journey.  I think she went above and beyond what was necessary and I know the other two gifts waiting for me are going to be perfect.

Spoiler Alert! (but not that kind)

  So..... I may have mentioned once or twice about my collection of nieces and nephew (soon to be nephews in another week!).  Well, my twin nieces -- Abigail and Marlowe -- will be turning two in a couple of weeks and so Auntie Sue has been surfing the internet in search of some interesting and fun gifts.
  Look at what I found at Bas Bleu and Cafe Press:

  They absolutely love "reading" the board books they already have, and it's never too early to start them on the classics, right?

  There may be a few other gifts heading their way too..... I am a spoiler after all.....

My Bookworm Santa Wishlist

Well, Halloween is over, and here in the US Thanksgiving is still two weeks away, but the stores are already full of Christmas merchandise.  I admit, I have been listening to a little bit of Christmas music (I have a little bit of an obsession with Michael Buble and his Christmas CD is just awesome!) but I usually don't get into the true spirit until the first snowfall.

But .... in browsing my google reader this morning I saw Judith @ leeswammes post about some Secret Santa exchanges going on in the blogosphere so even though it's not yet beginning to look a lot like Christmas, I'm getting started on the season.

Despite my disappointing experience with a Secret Santa exchange last year,  I am going to participate in the My Bookworm Santa exchange hosted at The Magic Attic.  And here is my wish list for Secret Santa:

1. Winter:  Five Windows on the Season by Adam Gopnik
2. The Little Shadows by Marina Endicott
3. Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon Van Booy
4. You Deserve Nothing by Alexander Maksik
5. The Jewish Husband by Lia Levi

It's going to be exciting to wait for the mailman and see what treasures await!

Secret Santa Meets the Grinch

*sigh*

 I wasn't sure if I was going to write a post about this, but I thought it might turn my lemon into someone else's lemonade so here goes.  (and I know I'm going to sound petty and selfish -- I do apologize)

  I signed up for a Secret Santa gift exchange on The Neverending Shelf's blog.  I received the name of another blogger with a list of books they had on their wish list and - though the books weren't familiar to me at all - I searched around to find a few on the list and had them sent.  Not a huge amount of time spent in the process, but enough (I felt) to make sure that I was choosing something this person would like.

  So a few days ago, my Secret Santa package arrived in the mail, and I was very excited to open it and see what treasures awaited (don't we all turn back into children at Christmas?).  Alas, my husband had a good laugh at my face when I had my first look, because the books weren't what I was expecting at all:

I certainly appreciate the effort that my Secret Santa made to package and send these books to me, and I don't remember exactly what I put on my wish list; but these don't even come close to anything that I would have chosen.  I did page through each of them to get a feel for the stories and I know that I am not going to ever read any of them.

I know -- Bah Humbug indeed.  And I feel rotten because of it.  But I do want to see these books go to someone who are genuinely interested in reading them, so if you would like any of these books please comment below and I will gladly send them to you.

What a gift!

My brother, sister-in-law and nieces (6 month old twins) have been visiting from Toronto since Wednesday and just left this morning. I had a great time snuggling with the girls and even survived a full day on my own with them while mommy and daddy went to a Cubs game. The smiles and coos I got from them was all I needed (though I do think having one or both of them around to snuggle after a rough day at work would be nice), but as they were leaving my sister-in-law presented me with a gift card for Barnes & Noble and:

Totally unnecessary, but very much appreciated. 

Now excuse me while I start reading.....