Santa was so good to me this year

Note: This entry was typed up at 3 am while sitting on the floor outside Ella's door, whisper-yelling "Go back to sleep" at her at regular intervals. I needed to remind myself, no matter how horrible things seemed right then, there were some good things in life...


Really, looking over my over-stuffed suitcases, I realize that Santa absolutely spoiled me this year. I don't know if, technically, I belonged on the "Good" list, but I appreciate him giving me the benefit of the doubt.

Quick run-down then:

- Santa B gave me that lovely ring of course. He also threw in some earrings and a necklace, a cashmere sweater, and a sweep through Victoria's Secret. If you asked me what I think about VS, I would give you 50 reasons why it is crap. On the other hand, they make really nice cotton T-shirt bras. I should know- I now own 5. Plus an enormous pile of matching underwear (how can you say no when they are constantly tempting you with these '3 or the price of one' deals?) Still, I maintain that VS is pathetic when it comes to making beautiful, sexy lingerie. For that, I stick to the French. Chantal Thomas and Simone Perele, I'm talkin' to you. New problem- I literally have lingerie bursting out of my drawers and must do a massive clearing out.

- a new Canon A530. After reading this site for a recommendation, I put in my order with Santa, and he came through. It was a good choice. I needed something that I could slip in my purse and my old, busted Sony DSC-H1 was impossible. Besides being super annoying since the LCD screen is broken. And I cannot for the life of me manage to take a photo with the flash that isn't completely bleached out. I haven't even figured out how to use half the functions on the Canon yet but I think we picked a winner this time around. Plus, Santa very thoughtfully provided 2 massive storage cards, so no more catastophies like in South Africa when I went to some shop to download my photos onto a disc and they ACCIDENTALLY ERASED THE ENTIRE CARD OF 200 PHOTOS.

- a portable DVD player and a stack of kids movies. This would have been even better with an extra battery so that I could have kept Ella entertained for the entire trip home, but even a few hours of calm was totally appreciated. Also, I bought myself a pilates DVD and this is totally convenient as I can sort of prop it up next to me anywhere and don't have to stand in the middle of the living room to see the big TV and be ogled by the office workers next door while doing my poses.

- a sewing box. This has been on every Christmas and birthday list for about the last 3 years and finally someone managed to realize that I was serious. And I also picked up a pair of pinking shears while I was out shopping one day. You have no idea how happy I am to own both a sewing box and pinking shears. Indescribable Martha Stewart joy fills my heart.

- Two pair of flannel pyjamas and a nice white terry robe and arch-supporting slippers. A sort of sexless, geriatric gift from my younger sister. Is she trying to tell me something, joke about our 4 year age difference? Not funny, if so. Although I really do like all of this stuff. Before, I only owned one pair of proper pyjamas and everything else fell under the category of lacy/ silky/shorty. Considering how cold I get at night, this was a bit of a conundrum. I ended up spending the night either glued to B's side, trying to absorb every smidgen of his body heat (which meant he couldn't move an inch without having to rearrange 8 appendages) or stacking every blanket in the house on the bed, causing B to sweat off about a kilo in water-weight every night. Good for weight control, not so good for restful sleep. I suppose real pyjamas were always the answer, but as we are currently at that critical 7 year mark in our marriage, I may have to ration out their appearances.

- 4 pair of gloves. For some people this might seem excessive. However, for someone with a habit of drunkenly abandoning gloves on the backseat of taxicabs, this is just the right amount to make it through the rest of winter. Fingers crossed.

- a pashmina shawl. Gorgeous thick 3-ply pashmina but its sort of a spicy orange color which isn't doing it for me. Can you dye pashmina? I think a google search is in order...

I've been telling everyone that Ella was spoiled rotten, but clearly I was as well. Must remember all this in the dark hours.