The 12 gifts of Patty's care package

Alright so here's the shibby on the package: Patty wanted to make sure that I got at least twelve items, to go along with the concept of the twelve days of Christmas. So that's what she was going for. And she pulled through. We have:

-one anti-Bush clipping from the Star Tribune (the particularly creative and hilarious parts highlighted in pink, of course)

-two comics from the Star Tribune

-one Mraz Family Favorite: the Isaac Asimov's Superquiz from the Star Tribune (the theme is U.S. States and I swear Sandra and Anna, from Germany, came up with some answers faster than I could.) And not just ANY Isaac Asimov's...oh no. THIS Isaac Asimov's Superquiz is the first superquiz I've ever found to have an ERROR!! I'M SMARTER THAN ISAAC ASIMOV! WOO! :)

-one bag of coveted Reese's Cup, per request of some of my German friends

-one bag of Hershey's Kisses for peanut butter cookies

-one box of Christmas Tree Cakes (which, upon first taste by Anna, elicited the response of, "But this is just pure sugar!")

-one miniature christmas tree

-one snowman stocking stuffed with

-one tiny cat figurine,

-one bottle of Advil, and

-one sheet of stickers of the planets

-two Christmas ribbons (one that folds into a bow!)

-one handmade card from the Betsy!!

-one pair of Christmas socks

-one ace bandage for my wrist

So that's at least 12 items...very solid Christmas package to say the least! :) 

In celebration for the copious amounts of sugar I found myself in possession of, Sandra and Anna came over last night to watch Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. I know that a movie night is not exactly interesting enough to post on a blog, but I only bring this up because I wanted to express the regret I felt at never having seen this movie! Haha it is hilarious! I can't believe I've been living in the dark for so long.

And then today has been a very outdoorsy day. In the afterglow of copious amounts of sugar consumption the night before, I went on my longest run here yet. Three laps around Lilsjön (literally translated to "little lake") instead of two let me run past the same awkward-Swedish-man-with-dog-speaking-to-me-in-Swedish-and-laughing-a-little-too-much THREE times instead of two, so that was nice. :) Middle-aged man flattery aside, it was a refreshing hour-long run.

After letting the icicles melt from my face (I wish I was kidding), Sandra and I headed back out for a long walk around Lilsjön to just take our time and capture pictures of all the snow and ice. It just felt so calming to walk through the silent woods. I got some beautiful shots.

I'm getting so excited because on Thursday morning I'm heading off to Åre for three full days of snowboarding (hence trying to get a lot of blogging in now). And then after that all the good byes are going to start for the Europeans heading home for the break. Many of them will be back after Christmas but a lot of us won't be around any more when they do, so we're having kind of one big holiday party on Sunday night after the ski weekend. It should be a nice way to say good bye and whatnot.

Well I'm off to Stacey's for some Christmas movie action! peace out

kt