Sunday, December 30, 2018

flowers

Stole this from Your Friend from Florida, I had another about books, I was going to do, but most of the books I read are non fiction, and it was definitely a fiction book questionnaire.

1. Are flowers a nice gift to give someone?  I like flowers. I feel special when someone gives them to me. I hope people feel special when I give them to them.
2. Do you wear any jewelry? I try to coordinate my earrings to my shirts for work. I just got a fit bit for Christmas, if you want to call that jewelry.
3. Have you ever laid in a field of flowers? Not that I recall.
4. Do you like tea? I'm getting there.
5. What would you do with a million dollars? Buy things, probably put some in a retirement account.
6. What word do you have trouble typing? Chocolate
7. Favorite fairytale? The Little Mermaid
8. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? yes
9. Do you prefer the city or the country? country
10. Are you a big fan of makeup? I don't do makeup, sometimes I do a little foundation
11. Favorite drink? Mountain Dew
12. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve stayed awake? Probably back in college, when I pulled an all-nighter. Or there was this one time, I went on a police ride-along until about 3 in the morning
13. Have you ever traveled outside of your country? Nope
14. Do you like spring? yep
15. Lipstick or lipgloss? neither
16. Favorite color? green
17. Do you like to decorate? I'm not that great at it, but I like doing it.
18. Do you ever go barefoot when you’re outside? sometimes
19. Are aliens real? no
20. Does your zodiac sign fit your personality? I'm a cancer and I like water. Other than that I don't know
21.Favorite sea animal? octopuses, jellyfish or mermaids
22. Are you a nice person? Depends on the situation
23. Favorite word? 
24. Night or day? Day
25. What would make you happy right now? Having someone to hang out with on New Year's eve.

Thursday, December 27, 2018

After Christmas shopping

So, opened at work today, but had to work an hour longer due to the weirdness of the this week's schedule. It was weird because on Saturday, it was pretty dead. Today, I walk in to this:
 Those are all the bins our machine sorts into. The blue lights means they are full (about 50 items falling into them makes them full), there are two extra bins in front that are also full and we have these laundry baskets that we put in front of them when we are closed, so that the overflow will fall into them, those were full, too.
Here's all the carts to be shelved, before we even started emptying the bins:
 It was nuts. I don't know why everyone felt the need to return all their items on the two days we were closed when nothing was due. Work wasn't too bad. Did some after Christmas shopping on my way home.
First stop, was a local flower/gifts shop. All their Christmas was 50% off, plus their clearance basement where everything was marked 50% off the price down there.
 bird, frog, penguin, fluffy ornament, Santa, palm tree.
The bird and frog were from the basement. I have been eyeing this bird since I saw it appear down there, I want to say last spring, but I don't know. It was originally $25, then marked down to $10 in the clearance section, so today it was $5, I don't think I could justify spending more than that. The frog was originally $12.50, marked down to $5, so $2.50 today. The rest were just Christmas stuff. The penguin was $14.50, marked down to $7.25, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend that much on it, but I finally gave in. The fluffy ornament, I just found neat, it was $12.50, marked down to $6.25. The tiny Santa/gnome was $4.50, marked down to $4.25. The palm tree with turtles was $4.50, marked down to $2.25. I put all the Christmas items into my Advent calendar for next year, which I now have done.
Next up was a local drugstore/grocery store.
I saw all these cute Ty stuffed animals:
Those are platypuses in front and a kiwi in back. Talked myself into a platypus:
 Platypus, Oreo candy canes, sloth keychain, chocolate, mermaid ornaments, tree ornament.
The platypus was $5.99, the Oreos $0.50, the sloth $3.50, the chocolate were $0.69 each, the mermaids and tree ornaments were $1 each.
I couldn't pass up the platypus and the sloth, they were too cute and too soft and too cheap. My aunt told me a couple weeks ago, I should try these candy canes, but I couldn't justify spending up to $5 on a box, when all I wanted was one, I can totally spend 50 cents, though. I bought a total of 7 chocolates. I really liked the mermaids and the tree ornaments, decided to make the tree one my keychain.
As I was taking the picture above of the Ty beanies, I noticed a text from my mom saying she and my dad were going to the Verizon store because he was having issues with his phone, so they picked me up on the way over. Turns out they are no longer doing the buy one get one free. But, also, Verizon will support the network on my phone for another year, so I don't have to get a new one. Also, found out tonight, my phone is not smart enough (not new enough) to support the fitbit app. I just think it's kinda funny.
Had a box waiting for me when I got home, it was an ornament swap:
I was a little hesitant to do this, because people seem to be kinda cheap on swaps lately, but i love the selection. I really love that faux wood one with the deer head and the silver and blue snowflake. I may have put those two in my Advent calendar for next year. I totally finished my Advent calendar for next year. Waited for about a half hour for the mailman to deliver the mail, only to get an ad. Finished The Day the Earth Caved in by Joan Quigley about Centralia, PA and the mine fire beneath it.
Thursday, woke up and went shopping. It was weirdly eerie outside, it was overcast and in the 40's but with the temp and the weather, it looked and felt like early evening in the summer. It was weird. First stop was Target:
 Hershey's crunchers ($2.99), Hershey's waffle layer crunch ($3.09), Special K protein snack bars ($2.44), Fiber one bars ($2.44). I picked up the special K and Fiber one bars for when I'm at the bookstore next month.
 ornaments. Everything in the picture was $1.50 except the cup. I figured the birds didn't have to be Christmas. I kinda wanna put these in a bag and take one out when I have a bad day.
I used my Target gift card there and spent $24.
Next stop was Walmart.
stocking ($3.94), shirt ($9), leggings ($3.88), Tarzan movie ($5), bralette ($4.96). I couldn't pass up the stocking, I have no idea why I bought it. The shirt was way too cute. I needed another pair of leggings and the bralette. I was thinking the other day about getting Tarzan from the library, figured I'd buy it instead.
 food. Ghiradelli strawberry ($5), Hershey's cookie layer crunch ($1), LOL surprise egg ($1.48), cookie ($1.49), rice krispie treat ($1.49), chocolate and mint morsels ($2.18) Reece's ($0.50).
Totally picked up the Ghiradelli for Valentine's Day, it's the only time these come out. The Hershey's and Nestle were in the food clearance section. The LOL was in the checkout line and I'm into blind bags. Also, did I mention I didn't have breakfast?
 Surpramals ($4 each), Squeezamals ($4), mash ems ($3), Shimmeez clip ($4), Doorables ($3 each), Radz ($2), unicorn massager ($0.50), monster ornament ($4)
I may have gone a little overboard on the blind boxes. There was this toy arrangement with, I'm guessing, stocking stuffers. I only picked up the ones that were on sale. I would guess they were at least $5 before. I picked up the unicorn massager to pass on in a swap, and I wanted the monster ornament before Christmas, but didn't want to pay the money.
 robot ($3), Frozen tags ($2), stickers ($0.50), ornaments ($1), cards ($3).
I also saw the robot before Christmas, but didn't need to spend $5 on something i didn't need. I wanted the boy ornament, but all they had available was the girl one. Thought I could use the Frozen tags for stuff other than Christmas. I bought these stickers before Christmas, but they're so cute. Also cute, were these ornaments and how could I pass on sloth Christmas cards? I spent about $82 at Walmart, I spent too much, but I know everything will be used, so I feel good about it.
By the time I left Walmart it was raining, or heavy drizzling. It got worse by the time I made it to Dollar Tree
shower curtain, mozzarella sticks, toothpaste, unicorn, Ren & Stimpy figures, Sweettart ropes, floss, blind bag.
I need a new shower curtain and the sticks looked good. I do need toothpaste and floss. I loved the Ren & Stimpy figures, I've been trying to find ones of them where they both look good, and you can't beat the price for these. Everywhere seems to have the cherry Sweettart ropes, but I like the strawberry ones. And of course a couple blind bags.
Dollar Tree was very disappointing. I wish I knew when their stock up day was, I feel lately it's been kinda empty when I go in there.
I tried out the fitbit today. After wandering around the stores and coming home, I walked 8.3K steps. And now it keeps buzzing at me cause I haven't moved much since I got home. I knew it would do that.
I think if my parents would just give me money to go after Christmas shopping for Christmas, I'd like what they got me. I'm always going to go after Christmas shopping, though Target was a lot more picked over this year, too. Though I always feel, if it's not there when I get there I wasn't meant to have it.

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Wednesday Medley

It's time for the Wednesday Medley. Head on over to Terri's blog at Your Friend from Florida, to see what other people's answers are.

1.  Are there candy canes left in your house right now?  Did you hang some on your tree?  Do you even like them? I don't like candy canes, so no, none in my house.
2.  Without a graphic, today is also National Thank You Note Day!  I like receiving that thank you note in the mail for a gift I have given.  Are you good about getting thank you notes in the mail after Christmas (or any occasion calling for a note)? I'm not good at sending thank you notes. I'm good at thanking people, just not in sending that note.
3.  How are you feeling on this day after Christmas?  Tired, let down, still glowing?  I have felt all of those at one time or another and sometimes all of them at once! Tell us about it. My previous post says I'm tired of my family. I always build up Christmas, even though I know it won't live up to my expectations, this year it was a bit different. Our trip over the 4th of July was supposed to be my birthday and Christmas present, so I didn't expect anything from my parents. I actually got some things from them, some better than others, but that's life. I'm going after Christmas shopping tomorrow and Thursday. I told my dad about getting a new phone on Thursday and apparently Verizon is having a buy one get one free on phones and he told me I could give him the free one. I was really looking forward to my shopping trip away from my family and people (people that I have to interact with for work), and now I have to meet with them. I'll be limiting it to our meet at Verizon, so I feel it will be OK, plus I have Saturday off.
4  It is "tradition" to leave the tree and decorations up until after January 6th, to honor the Epiphany. When will your boxes be packed and put away until next year?  Are you, like me, thinking about doing it right now? My decorations are more snowman than Christmas (because I collect snowmen), so I leave them up until I'm tired of staring at them. I predict it will be after Jaunary 6th.
5. Looking ahead to New Year's Eve, do you have plans?  Have you ever celebrated big in New York's Time Square? Would you even want to be there? I don't really have plans for New Year's. I did buy myself some sparkling grape juice for it. But, I'll probably just watch a movie by myself. I would not want to be in Times Square, way too many people. It'd be fun to go to a party with friends, but I bet I won't be up until midnight.
6. Tell us something random about your week so far! How about these socks my brother got me for Christmas?
There was also a pair of a spaceship beaming up a person, apparently it didn't make it into the picture.

Merry Christmas venting

Sunday: I hung out with my friend, she came in from MN, we went to a new bubble tea place, it was good, I feel I'll go back again. Then we went to a local geeky store, Mayhem. I picked up a few things:
 Disney blind bags, Mike from MU, and a Superheroes blind bag. Everything in the store was 20% off, I wanted more, but I don't need more.
Here's a close-up of those Disney blind bags:
 I wanted a whole case of them. Everything in them is something I like.
After that we headed to HyVee for supper and gift opening.
here's what she got me:
 A cute crocheted owl, a sloth eraser on a pencil, a cake, chocolate, Mario star tin with candies, sloth container with putty, TMNT cards and a cute card.
I will say I was a little bummed to open the chocolate, it was about the same as the Kinder cereal bars, with rice in it. I ate it, but it wasn't that good. The cake was wonderful. Got home and slacked off the rest of the night.
Monday, my calendars:
 mine: monkey toy, pocket letter: Christmas ephemera, garland: notepad.
There was chocolate, but it was a mix, because it was originally a Kinder cereal bar and I gave it to a friend. This day was kinda, meh.
I got some great mail, though.
A stuffed pencil case:
 I love all the pens, though the colored ones are actually markers. I'll be passing on some stuff.
An ATC:
 And a secret Santa gift:
 I waited until today to open it, just in case I didn't get anything exciting.
I put together a few tags.
Magnet:
 ATC:
 I basically spent the day reading, it was great. Finished a few books to take back to the library. Went to my dad's sister's for Christmas eve. It was fun. I won a blanket, a giant bag of caramel/cheese corn, knock-off peppermint oreos, peppermint bark covered popcorn, and a word search book. The food will be going to work on Wednesday. We got home close to 11, so I took my shower and went to bed.
Tuesday, my calendars:
 Mine: elephant toy, pocket letter: the paper goodies, garland: snack mix.
Here's what I got for the pocket letter:
 It's an album kit, I love it, but I won't use it. I'm thinking of using it as a replacement swap.
I got up about 8:30, and had a text from my mom saying my brother was already up doing stuff, so I got dressed and went over, only to wait until 10 when his girlfriend got up and had breakfast. I expected nothing from my parents, so was surprised when I found presents from them.
 shirts. I mentioned to my mom once that I didn't have any long sleeve shirts. I don't because it's too warm at the library to wear them, when I'm at home, I just layer up with hoodies and robes. I'm keeping the grey one at the top. The rest are too big because she got me XL. They're from Kohl's, I don't know if I'll find anything I really want there. I do need new black pants.
 pillowcase, stickers, socks, earrings, keychain, ornaments.
I'm not sure why my mother decided to make the pillowcase for me, I do like owls, but I don't need a pillowcase. Also, not sure why she gave me earrings, I don't wear a lot of earrings. I always need socks (just wait for the next picture), I love the frog keychain. Not really excited about the ornaments.
socks, fitbit, chocolate, mug, necklace
 My brother and his girlfriend got me all these socks. I really like the pair that says, fuck off I'm reading. Wish I could tell that to my parents everytime they ask me what I'm doing. I don't want the fit bit, but my mother keeps asking if I want one, so I knew I'd get one eventually. It's just going to tell me I need to exercise more, I already know that. I kinda just want to know how much I walk when I go out walking. I don't think it's gonna change my exercise habits. I love the owl mug, that and the frog keychain in the above photo are my favorite items. The necklace is cute, it's supposed to look like an origami penguin.
 snowglobe, book.
I'm not sure how I feel about the snowglobe, it's cute, but covered in glitter. I'll probably keep it, but it's not coming out this year. Also not sure how I feel about the book. I love books, but I don't like people giving me books as presents, I see it being donated to the library.
Here's what was in that stocking:
It's a bunch of stickers and die cuts and trims and embellishments and that package at the bottom is an altered notebook.
So, Thursday, I'm going after Christmas shopping. I mentioned to my dad that I was going to the Verizon store to get a new phone and he said they have a buy one get one free special, so I should buy mine and give him the free one. That pissed me off. He can easily buy his own phone, last I heard he didn't even want a new phone because the iPhones no longer have the headphone port. And there's no way I can get out of it. I need a new phone, apparently Verizon will no longer support the network my Iphone 4 something uses. If it did, I would just keep it. If I stayed off of Facebook, the battery would last. I plan to talk to the salespeople and see how much longer they will support the network and if not much longer, to see what the cheapest smartphone I can get is. I don't know if it's buy one and get one equal or lesser value. I think my issue is more, why give someone something for free when i'm the one that has a hard time affording the new phone. The ones I was looking at online were $350, that's more than I want to spend, but I guess we'll see. I also have had enough of my family lately.

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Bother

Saw these on Your Friend from Florida's blog, thought it'd be fun to answer them:
What did you do last year that you had not done before?  I went to St. Louis, that was an interesting adventure. 
Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions/goals for the year and will you make/set more for next year?  What are they? What are your new ones?  I'm not sure I made any last year. I don't really do resolutions.
Did anyone you know give birth?  No. Or become pregnant? No. Or adopt? No.
Did anyone you know die? No. Or have a serious illness/injury? No.
What places have you visited? Like I said, I went to St. Louis.
Any new pets? Lost a pet? No pets here.
What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year (doesn't have to be a physical thing i.e. love, job security, peace of mind...)? More money, yes more sanity, less weight
What date from last year will remain etched in your memory and why? Can't think of anything.
What was your biggest achievement last year? Nothing big happened.
Did you get sick or injured? Nope, didn't even have my yearly cold (Knock on wood)
What was the best thing you bought? Minions
Where did most of your disposable income go (money left over after you pay for food, medical care, basic clothing, transportation, and shelter)? postage and just buying stuff for swaps
What song will always remind you of last year?  Doesn't have to be a song released last year. I listened to Hallelujah by Pentatonix a lot, and I discovered Thunderstruck by AC/DC on Youtube.
What do you wish you would have done more of? Hanging out with friends
What do you wish you would have done less of? watching Youtube/movies and being on the computer
What was your favorite new TV program? Movie? Album/Songs? Or if you didn't pick up any new ones, what are you still watching/listening to? Any recommendations? I don't really pay attention to new stuff.
What was the best book you read this year?  How many did you read? I really liked the Radium Girls by Kate Moore and The Library Book by Susan Orlean. I'm currently at 86, I'm hoping to hit 100 by the end of the year.
What did you do on your birthday and how old were you? Did you feel differently? I turned 35, we were in St. Louis, so that was fun-ish. I didn't like that I didn't get anything for my birthday, it seemed like people forgot because I wasn't around (I'm still a little bitter).
What political or social issue stirred you the most? I try not to talk about politics, though the elections were interesting.
Who was the most interesting new person you met? We hired 3 new people in my department at work, they're pretty interesting.
What changed at your job? I believe I've gotten more Interlibrary loan responsibilities, but I'm not sure if that's just a this past year thing. 
What changed in your home? I got more stuff, cause I spend too much money.
Describe how a relationship changed. One of my closest friends moved to another state.
Do you think you are still the same person that you were at the beginning of the year?  How so? Probably not, I think we all change every minute we're alive. 
Summarize the year in three words or less. Bonus points for doing it in one word. Explain. Not exciting. Does that really need explanation?
How have people around you changed? Please refer to that other question about change
What have you learned throughout the year? (Other than crafts) Things about people that I'm not gonna talk about
What was your favorite outfit for warm weather? Cooler weather? I like jeans, t-shirts and flip flops. The only thing that changes for winter, would be a switch to boots.
Did you learn any new crafts or techniques? I did learn a few new techniques, such as making a shaker with tulle, like this tag:
 I also learned how to marble paper:
What was your favorite thing you made?  Sorry, can't pick just one, but here's a few: I really enjoyed this explosion box:
This set of tags:
 This altered picture frame:
 This ATC:
 This altered notebook:
 This tag:
 This pocket letter:
 And this journal page:
What changed about your physical appearance? I cut my hair in April, cut off over 15 inches. Now, I just wish it were long enough for a braid again.
What are your hopes and dreams for the new year?  To get my parents off my back. I don't really have a lot, because if you hope for things and they don't happen, then you're just bummed. I seem to be bummed a lot lately, I'd like to be less bummed.
I do like filling these out, even though my life is boring.

Owl fluff

I feel like the closer I get to Christmas, the grumpier I am. I don't know if it's because I know I won't be getting a lot of gifts, or because our plans keep changing or because people seem ruder this time of year, or what. But I've been in a bad mood lately. Thursday was nice to hang out with a friend and go some places I hadn't been in awhile. But I remember a few years ago when we went to a charity sale she told me she wasn't supposed to be driving, yet I see her show up to work every day driving. And then we went to a couple places that were 45 minutes away from town. She could have just said she didn't have the time or something like that.
Then on Friday, I read an email that basically said the exact opposite of something someone else told me, so I was annoyed about that. Another reason why you shouldn't check your work email at home. It always starts that I have to be in my email for something else and then a subject line peaks my interest. And Friday, I got done with my job a bit earlier than usual, so I decided to spend money on myself. I've been doing that a bit too much lately and it will continue on to when I do my after Christmas shopping next week.
Friday:
 My calendars, mine: the squishy keychain and owl post its, pocket letter: the stickers, garland: ribbon.
Even my advent calendar was boring, though I really like the stickers I got in the pocket letter.
I put together a wish:
 she asked for something angel. I realize I just got the angel pieces for a wish granted, but they're not what I had in mind, and then I realized it had to be something new and remembered this angel ornament I had picked up.
I spent most of the day reading The Library Book by Susan Orlean, it's about the fire at the Los Angeles Central library in the late 80's and the stuff that goes on in the background of libraries, loved it. Even though I know what goes on and I know what we have going on goes on at other libraries, but sometimes it's nice to be told that.
I had to work a game that night and people were ok with bags. I realized going in that my anxiety is higher this year for the games and I think it's because of the clear bag policy. Because someone always has to argue. They can't pay attention to the rules before they come and their excuse is always "I didn't know" or "They let me come in last time". I feel you should research the rules when you go somewhere and abide by them without the staff having to tell you what they are. I also realize that the 4.5x6.5 size is very tiny and you can't fit much in there, but what do you really need for a 2 hour basketball game? And it's not going to change. The people I worked with last night weren't lenient, but I've also noticed that if you apologize a bunch of times while informing people of the rules, they will think they can get past you. Like one of my co-workers let someone bring in caramel balls because she knew they were gifts for someone, which just means that if another patron saw that, they would argue as to why they couldn't bring their snacks in or that patron would continue to try and bring other food items in and then give us the line of they let me bring it in last time. You're making it harder for everyone else when you're lenient.
So, I caught the bus home and went to Hobby Lobby.
 Christmas was 66% off this week, and wow was it picked over. There were a couple things I was going to pick up when it went down, like the mouse ornament and the snowman pic and the doily ornament. There were other things I wanted but they weren't there, I'm glad I bought my Precious Moments angel when they went down to 50% off because there weren't any of those left. I picked up the felt snowflakes and the snowflake paper for a snowflake pocket letter. I picked up the bags because they didn't have to be used for Christmas. I picked up the poinsettias, the light stickers and the gingerbread guys just cause they were cute. I liked the pumpkin paper and the coffee cup washi was on clearance. I'm excited to see the clearance section reappear. Everything I bought was on sale or on clearance, I spent a grand total of $13.
I also went to JoAnn's, but as usual couldn't find anything to spend my money on. I know I say this a lot, but I shouldn't even go in there. I just keep hoping there will be something great. I went to HyVee as well, picked up a Cherry Coke, some filled Twizzler bites and some pistachio muffins. I really wanted bagels, but couldn't find them.
When I got home I found some mail waiting for me.
A pocket letter:
 she sent it flat and I had to put everything back in the pockets, but it's cute. Also, she said it was her first one, I think it turned out pretty good for a first one.
A Christmas card:
Saturday:
Mine: box of metal toys, pocket letter: washi, garland: chocolate
I knew this box of fun was coming, it was the only item I had to wrap for my Advent calendar. Not so impressed with the other things.
I had to work Saturday afternoon, which was weirdly slow. I like weekends because we're usually busy, so very weird. No mail, unless it appeared in the mailbox after 6:30.
I did find some gifts on my desk.
Truffles:
 And peppermint bark:
 I may have been a bit bummed at the lack of Christmas cards, even though I didn't give any out. I guess I know who will give me stuff.
Sunday:
mine: Tsum Tsum and owl fluff, pocket letter: paper clips, garland: altered paper clips.
I love those tiny paper clips from the pocket letter, I'm not sure how I feel about the altered ones. I'm really enjoying the blind bags, but I always do. I wonder if I can find any at after Christmas shopping.
I got up and got my laundry done before noon, which was great. I have plans to get together with a friend later, though I thought it was going to be earlier. That might be part of the reason I'm so grumpy lately, people tell me something and then go and change it. I realize it's Christmas time and things come up, but when I'm expecting things and then you go and change it, it bums me out. My brother kept changing his plans to get here for Christmas, finally ending up on coming over on the 24th, straight to my aunt's house, coming back here after my dad's family celebration on the 24th and leaving on the 26th. Which then also changed how we were getting to my dad's side of the family celebration, my mother not going. And then this, and something another friend told me about January, come to find out it will be late February now. I also haven't seen one of my friends in over a year and a half, I know that's not helping my mood. I keep sending her gifts in the mail, but she doesn't get back to me, so I feel that will be changing.
I totally just want to open the rest of my calendar gifts even though I know I won't have anything to open tomorrow. 

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Minions galore

Tuesday: calendars:
 Mine: penguin, pocket letter: clear stamps, garland: s'mores cup
I see I started packing less in my personal advent. I guess I ran out of stuff to put in it. I will be passing on the stamps and cake to someone else.
I was pretty productive getting swaps and tags ready to mail out.
Personal swap:
 Someone had posted they had a 5 ornament swap ready to mail, I wanted to do it, but I'm really trying to not buy more for the group, and then I got the Santa and knew I wouldn't use it for anything, so I chose to do the swap. The snowflakes were from my other ornament swap, the hippo I got last year, the owl I bought earlier this year and the hedgehog I've had. I threw in the unicorn because she likes unicorns. I also put the s'mores cake in there last minute.
Pencil pouch:
 This swap was to fill up a pencil pouch with things. I was trying to figure out what to put in a pencil pouch and went with a notepad, sticky notes, washi, flat eraser, 3D eraser, altered paper clip, shaped paper clip, colored pen, a couple pencils and a cute pen.
I had an unpleasant phone call with my dad because my parents just can't stay out of my life, so I opened a wrapped present I was sent:
 Love these, I was going to buy this set at TJ Maxx back in September, but they all had some kind of flaw. These will not store salt and pepper.
I attempted to make something, but I just kept getting interrupted, so gave up. After getting so many packages on Monday, I received one Christmas card on Tuesday. Work was challenging, more issues with our media box.
Wednesday: calendars
 mine: ornaments, pocket letter: brads, garland: paper
This is a really bad picture. I like the ornaments, wish I could have opened them a little sooner and put one in the ornament swap. I remember the snowman had this dangle on it that said baby's first Christmas, but I just wanted the ornament, so I popped that off.
Work was again challenging, more issues with the media box and then found some issues in other things I take care of. I actually got home pretty early (around 2), which was surprising given the line at the post office was pretty long. I had to work a basketball game that night, so I read some more in a book. It was a very small crowd at the game and I was happy I was only there two hours. I walked home with a co worker, and it was the first time I've walked home that I wasn't cold. It was 40 degrees out when I got home.
Also, no mail, that was weird.
Thursday, calendars:
 mine: blind bag, pocket letter: stickers, garland: garland kit.
Here's what was in my blind bag:
 She's got a really big head and is sticky and squishy.
Apparently my Thursdays are the most exciting day of the week. Had plans to have lunch with a friend and we decided to go shopping as we haven't done it in awhile. I got a lot of minions.
First stop was Goodwill:
 I was really hoping to find some cheap crafting supplies, but found a minion for $2 instead. I was bummed after having my phone call with my dad on Tuesday that I didn't buy the cute robot on Wednesday, so I bought a few today.
We went to HyVee next where I picked up a couple Russell Stover chocolates for $2. Next up was Perkins for lunch, I had a skillet thing which I was told was the more healthier option of what I wanted, but it was pretty bland.
Next up was Overflow Thrift:
 I had to pick up this bag, it's almost the same as the bagallini I have now, but not that brand. I will need a replacement soon, last Thursday, my aunt showed me that TJ Maxx has them, but I didn't find what I wanted then or on Monday, so to find this one for $3, I was sold. I found a cute Woodstock ornament, some fish earrings I figured I could use for crafting and another minion. Total spent here $5.
We traveled to Affordables next:
 And I found a couple more minions, but didn't want to buy both. I'm not entirely sure why I bought the penguin, but he was cheap. The ornament is a "Thing 2" from The Cat in the Hat, I decided it didn't have to be Christmas. Total spent $3.
It was a fun day hanging out with my friend, I spent less than $20, and I'm really tickled at the minions.
I found a few things in my mailbox when I got home.
Template winnings:
 Not a fan of the snow angel kid, but figure I can always pass it on.
Random swap 10 red items:
 Obviously more than 10, and I love how she had it packaged, everything was in the mini stocking. I wish I thought of that, I have a mini red stocking.
Wishes:
 of tea and something angel. I wanted something more cutesy, and the teas all smell wonderful. I realized the other day, I could drink a cup of tea every day I'm at the bookstore with all the different tea I'm getting.
Wrapped Christmas gift:
Obviously I didn't want to wait. I love these, especially the Gorjuss girls. I'm not really into the Gorjuss girl stamps, but I really like these stickers.
Next Thursday, I'm going after Christmas shopping, so I know I'll be posting.