Holiday joy and greetings to all! :)

It’s three days after Solstice and Christmas Eve and well after Hannukah… and I have a ton of things to be thankful for. First and foremost for me: I have officially advanced to candidacy!

In case I didn’t make it clear just how unutterably happy & relieved that makes me:

…yeah, THAT excited. :)

So, also inexpressibly delighted that we have a tree! :)  If I can figure out what google’s done with my phone photos I’ll add in the picture here later.

Finally, in the spirit of Solstices past, I’m including a few URLs that I much enjoyed, to share with friends. First something nifty about the origins of the season: Doe, A Deer — A Female Deer: The Spirit of Mother Christmas which I knew already due to my studies, but apparently many of my friends don’t! Let’s rectify this…

-and then let’s have something silly and fun! As a very aspiring — as opposed to wildly successful — cook myself, this made me laugh so hard I cried! We’d Rather Eat Coal: A disturbing evening spent preparing vintage Christmas recipes.

Enjoy, and a very merry and blessed holidays to you all! :)

Later edit: Oooh, figured it out! Here’s Goldie at the tree, & the tree from a different angle:

Aren’t the reflections on the wooden floor pretty? I’m really thrilled too because this is the first full-sized tree we’ve had in something like two and a half decades — yay! It just feels more christmassy to me than the tiny tree I had to work with previous to this. Plus this tree is artificial, so sturdier when the cats decide to see if it’s climbable (it is, though I didn’t get any photos of the little monsters! :), and also the lights are both cool AND already wired in! Totally awesome, in my book — this way we get all the joy of a tree but don’t have to kill one! Oh, and I absolutely love how beautifully colorful decorations are:

…and also how much fun it was to make some of my own decorations this year! The red and white exploding star is made of paper — they’re surprisingly easy to make, too! They’re a traditional Polish decoration, and their proper name (which I’ve forgotten & will have to look up later) translates as “hedgehog” — which I love! The little shooting star is a lace weave from gold thread, and also surprisingly easy to do — with the right pattern and tools, of course! I wouldn’t want to try it from scratch. ;) But apparently lacework, like the hedgie-star, is effectively time-consuming but simple to do once you know how. Very cool! :)

I also wanted to mention one not-so-successful holiday attempt, mostly because it made me giggle so much when I pulled it out of the microwave. It was supposed to be a little brownie-cake in a mug. I call it the chocosplosion! ;)

Finally, because “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is my favorite holiday show, I have the following, filched from FB… as a happy reminder that it’s not the loot — it’s the sharing and joy that really make the season. :)

A very merry, blessed, and prosperous holidays and new year to you all!