Amber & The Booty Continues

Christmas just keeps on giving and giving.  Today, I got this love note from the post office, wrapped around a parcel that they had so lovingly delivered.

(seen here with Pickles back legs, tail, and the Ghandi figure from James)

Shockingly, the contents were not completely lost!  I immediately put them on/in my face.

Thank you for the sugar scrub and panforte, Erl.  I had a hard time knowing which to eat and with which to scrub.

Also, thanks to Jimmy for the most wonderful Christmas presents of all.  First, Snapshot Artifact is back up and running.  Next, he photodocumented the gift of fellowship that I shared with Kevin and Diana, Art, Barbara, Tille and Isaac, Peter, Henry, and Mark.  And, he gave me that new icon on the upper right of the page.

AND, if that's not enough to make you think I had the best Christmas haul ever, also thanks to mom and dad for the great new dutch oven.  It's at the office until after the move (and until I actually have an oven again) and then, people, there will be chicken and dumplings.  So, really, invited dinner guests, you should be thanking my mom and dad as well.

Score.

Amber & Christmas Booty Part I

Yes, the holidays are about much more than presents. But also? They are about presents.  And let me tell you, dear reader, I scored big time this year.  I hereby present somehighlights of my Christmas Booty 2011.

Remember when my kitchen fell apart and my kitty teapot (itself a gift!) was shattered?  Thank you, sister dear and her beau, for giving me the gift of tea once more.  Not only can I cook water...

...but I can also brew it into delicious beverages in the style of my favorite animal characters...

...and then, thanks to Auntie Carol, drink tea in comfort in my brand new pajamas apparently made from angel's eyelashes (they are that soft, people).

Wait, what's that clinking on the side of my tea cup?  Oh!  It's just the lovely charm bracelet my sister gave me.

I must remember to write her a thank you note using the fountain pen from professional colleague HM.

But, I'll have to be careful not to get chocolate on the card since I am busy stuffing my mouth with the amazing chocolates from thoughtful Alison.

What a bounteous season indeed.  And, wait!  There's more.  (Tomorrow.)

Amber & Coming and Going

So, yesterday, I saved Ginger's life (and didn't even need a Safe Baby Apron).  I was about to drain the pasta, and Gigi was being a spazz and got underfoot.  The ganglia in my shoulders decided that, rather than let go of the pot and let the boiling water scald the cat--which would be really, really bad--it was better to pull the pot in and hug it to my chest.  Boiling water and tiny elbow pasta (tomanoocheese) splashed all over me and I got a nasty burn which has, today, settled into this nastiness.

My belly button is included for scale.  It's definitely smaller now.  All that is left are the actual blisters--yesterday the whole area was about 4" x 4".

Two things:

1.  Had I not burned myself, Ginger really would have been scalded--and that would have been horrible.  Yes, it hurts, and showering is no longer my fave, but it really is a better option for me to deal with this than have a horribly disfigured cat who can't understand his suffering, right?

2.  Amy Bee has pointed out that maybe I should really just stay out of my kitchen.  I would add to that maybe I should just really not make pasta.

What makes this whole thing more complicated?  My shoulder was cupped yesterday.

See that nasty bruise?  It does feel much better, though.

Also, you have no idea how hard it is to photograph your own shoulder.

Thank goodness that my officemate is out today.

All in all, I may look horrible, and it may hurt when I breathe deeply, but the alternatives were much worse.

Amber & Breathlessness

Dear reader, how often does Jean Seberg come up in conversation for you in any given week?

I'm having what might amount to a very atypical week for most people.

First, there was a discussion of my hair with a former office space sharer.  She said she liked my new hairdo and said it seemed very Mia Farrow circa Rosemary's Baby.  I said I was going for more of a Jean Seberg circa Breathless.  She looked confused.  I was also wearing a stripey shirt at the time.

Le sigh.  Over $80,000 on my cinema education and so few get my really mundane references.

Then, I was discussing whether or not Christopher Walken was going to wind up going to prison, my co-ponder said, "Well, they never figured out what happened with Jean Seberg either."  I then (incorrectly) postulated that her husband had been accused but then killed himself.

Finally, my annual hand-made Christmas card from my friend the famous poet arrived and lo!  It features an image of Jean Seberg working a mighty fine Tuesday Weld winter princess look.

The text?

"FYI- the Seberge image is because-- I am writing a book-length work on Seberg-- "

Coincidence?  Or not?

Amber & Religion

The heat in my building comes on at certain times, unrelated to the temperature inside. 10 am is one such time, and the hissing and water hammer call the boys forward to worship at the radiator altar. Cats, after all, are desert creatures.