I'm not sure how many of you know this, but it's been kind of a rough season for me. On top of piling on too much work outside of work (still fun - don't get me wrong - just keeping me busy!) and the usual holiday fare, my grandfather passed away last week. Needless to say, any blog posts I had planned didn't get posted.
I wasn't really sure how to get back into the blogging groove, as I had the same issue writing after my grandmother passed away in April. It just doesn't feel important anymore, even though it is; writing has always been a sort of therapy for me and I've been keeping journals and blogs for as long as I can remember.
Luckily, though, I had something exciting to kick my butt back in gear and come to you with some joyful news. I had joined the TGIF Secret Santa over on Ravelry a couple months ago as a way share some Christmas spirit with fellow yarn lovers. In the past, I've received ornaments from different areas of the country, handmade gifts (which are always a treasured bonus) and, of course, yarn that I can't always get in my area.
I had fun putting together goodies for my own Secret Santa... and even more fun when I came home yesterday to see that my secret Santa was Margaret (one of my favorite YouTubers). I knew immediately that her package would not only be fun to open, but incredibly thoughtful and purposeful - exactly how she appears in her videos.
Here are the amazing pressies she selected for me:
- A knitting pattern book I had on my Amazon wish list (Knockout Knits by Laura Nelkin)
- A cat paw bottle opener that was also on my Amazon wish list (I laughed SO HARD! I can’t wait to put it to good use
- A gorgeous hand-carved wooden nativity to add to my collection
- A cute little “D” ornament that is going on the tree as soon as I’m done typing
- Kitty treats for Charlie and Nelson (Backstory: Margaret's cat Smitty looks like my Charlie and these are some of Smitty's favorite treats, so he thought he'd share some with Charlie :) )
- A rope penguin doggy toy for Fritzy
- Beautiful Berocco Brio yarn in the 9447 colorway "Riot" (and it sparkles - my favorite!)
- A Margaret-made project bag :D I’ve been dying to have one since she started making them!!!!
- Some delicious-sounding “Nighty Night Before Christmas” organic tea
- And the piece(s) de resistance: two pint glasses with the BEER INSTITUTE logo because I’m a bit of a beer snob and enjoy teaching people that there is more than one flavor - and yes, it can be delicious! I LOVE THEM and so does my hubby. He was impressed :)
I can't stress enough what a happy surprise it was to not only receive these amazing gifts when I needed it most, but to also have Margaret as my Secret Santa. It brightened my entire week!
