Bronze star

Thursday: Basically I read a book all day. It was called Alligators, Old Mink & New Money by Alison Houtte and Melissa Houtte. It's about this lady's ventures into selling vintage clothing. Very cool. Someone else had requested it as an Interlibrary loan and it looked interesting, so I requested it for myself. I'm glad I did. I only wish we had it in our collection, so I could add it to my staff picks.

I also got some happy mail.

ATC:

 This is a very past due tag. I hate how people say they mailed something and then when you get it and find out that the postmarked date is way after they were supposed to mail it.
We learned today that there were so many people in the group that didn't send out November swaps on time that we're not having December swaps and they're dropping the number of tags to 3 per day. I honestly have no idea how many there were before. But I think it's a good thing. I don't know about people's lives, but I can guess November and December are busy months, though I don't think that's a good reason for not sending things out on time. For the swaps, they post them on the first day of the month, I believe we have until the 9th to sign up and then until the 23rd to mail them. I try to start collecting things the moment they are posted. That's like 3 weeks to get them read and two to mail them. I always start early in case anything comes up. With the tags, they post a schedule at the beginning of the month and you have a week to send them from the day you tag someone. So, if there was an ATC tag today, I'd have until next Thursday to send it. I don't think there's a good excuse to not sending these on time. You know what tags are happening at the beginning of the month, you can start planning and buying things. I know things come up, but they give us ample time to get things sent out.
I also got some Christmas cards:

 I love when people send me handmade ones. I'm not that good at making cards, but I think I should try for next year. I also love that honeycomb snowman one.
Friday: I wanted to visit our downtown shops for a few more gifts I need.
First stop was Random Goods, I didn't find anything to buy, but found some interesting stuff.

 Does anyone remember having these growing up? My grandma had some. I really wanted them, but I'm still not buying glass stuff, and they were $50 for the set.

 Interesting use of a teapot.
Next stop was the British Foods Store. I almost walked right by it. I forgot they opened one in downtown. It was pretty empty, but I still found $22 worth of stuff to buy.

 The tea set is for a friend, thought it would be perfect for her. I should really learn to read labels. The curly wurly was caramel covered in chocolate, it was good, but I'm not a big fan of caramel. I'm not sure why I bought the Kinder Bueno, I'll have 24 days of Kinder chocolate to open starting tomorrow. The Crunchie is honeycomb in chocolate.
Next up was Lindsey Loos.

 I still needed a reindeer for my brother. Thought this one was cute, it was $5.
Next was Worldly Goods, they are are a fair trade store and always have cool stuff, not always at my price, though.

 LOVE the snail. He's stone. Also, thought the llama keychain was cute. Spent $10
Last stop was Evert's, a local flower and gift store.

 I originally went in to find the hedgehog and buy a ticket for a home tour tomorrow. I also needed something pretty to give my brother's girlfriend. I don't really know what she likes, but I always think of her collecting elegant and pretty things. Spent $15 for the home tour ticket and $10 for the rest.
Found some happy mail.

 wish for chocolate. I love that she just wrapped up this little box, maybe 2x2x2. It was just kinda hanging out on top of another box. I really wish they had put it in the mailbox, it's not like it wouldn't fit.
And more Christmas cards:

Love the little yeti one.
I decided the money from my very very part time job could kinda be fun money. I certainly don't need to be spending more money, but I wanted some to spend. I also read another book today, When Books went to War by Molly Guptill Manning about how books helped us win World War II. Love the last line of the book: More books were given to the American armed services than Hitler destroyed.
Saturday: I got to open my advent calendars. I'm still waiting on the garland advent calendar. But, here's what I opened:

 Kinder: 2 choco-bons, personal: squeesh-yum mini keychain and fuzzy owl, pocket letter: wood veneers.
Here's a close-up on those wood veneers.

I'm a little disappointed on that snowflake, the other outer pieces were broken off when I looked closely at it, they were nowhere to be found. I think it would have been nicer if she broke off the other pieces, then it would have just looked like a tiny snowflake.
I didn't receive my garland advent calendar in the mail today either. I tried messaging my partner yesterday asking about tracking, but she hasn't looked at the message. I feel some people in the group would say I'm being insensitive because her baby daughter had some kind of spinal surgery the week of Thanksgiving. I don't think I am. The swap was posted October 5th, though I feel it was suggested earlier than that with a link on what we were doing. It was partnered October 7th. Now I am truly sorry that she's had health issues with her daughter, but we had a month and a half to create and send this out.
I considered doing a December daily posting on here, but I can guarantee what the next three Sundays are going to say. Worked basketball did laundry. Not very exciting and neither is my life.
Anywho, I went to a holiday home tour with some co-workers today. It was OK. My mom and I used to do this a bit when I was in high school and up, but she seems to have lost interest. What I hate is that all the houses in the home tour always seem to be soo big, so then I just assume the people have lots of money. Our first house was cute, there was a cooking tree in the kitchen and a room upstairs with some quilting stuff. The second house was very close to the first and had lots of history in it. A lot of hand me down decorations and ornaments. The third house was the President of the University. I wasn't very impressed. It was just a bunch of trees decorated by the different colleges, nothing personal in it. The fourth was covered in bears (not really, but there was a lot), and a bunch of cross stitching that the homeowner had done. The last house was my favorite. They had bought an old house that was in disrepair and fixed it up. It had a lot of charm and reminded me of the house I grew up in. It was fun, I'm hoping to start a new tradition and do this with a different friend next year.
Now, I'm snuggled up in my blankets reading my book for the day: In my Father's House by Fox Butterfield.