Monday night

I worked for several hours on wrapping presents today and I'm still not done. I did, however, get the package to Sweden ready to mail. We even took it to the post office and sent it off. Eleven bucks, which is actually not so bad, considering. Last year, it was $28 or something ridiculous. I think that they (Magnus and his family) have all pretty much decided to keep Christmas exchanges to a minimum because of the shipping issues.

Oh! I've been emailing this annoying rebate company.. I don't want to get into the whole thing right now. Anyway, it made me think of our other failure in rebates, the most notable of which was Transparent Language's SwedishNow! 8, a software program supposedly teaching Swedish (don't get me started on this either.) Anyway, I wrote them an email the other night, explaining that I bought the thing in spring of 2001 and had never received the rebate, along with a few other assorted details. I was expecting one of two things--no response or "Sorry, the time limit for that promotional offer is past. Please purchase one of our other fine products." Today, though, I got an email from someone saying that she could help with this issue and just to send my mailing address and she'd get the check out to me. *boggle* It was so unexpected it made my teeth hurt. :) Perhaps next I should tackle Sears.. who owes us $35 for a delivery and installation rebate from January 2001...

I've also been crafty today and haven't even picked up a shuttle! Namely, I've made two ornaments out of clear glass bulbs. The first one is.. interesting. A picture from our wedding, of candles and my bouquet and our rings, cut in an oval and glued to the inside of a square ornament, and the inside is covered with glitter. Note: when one gets the hankering to paint the inside of a glass ball, one should keep in mind that one should have a flexible handled paintbrush of some sort, or one might resort to painting with broken Q-tips. Not that I would be so short-sighted as to have done this or anything. Anyway, the second one is incredibly cool, if I do say so myself. I printed a circle on transparency paper of part of the view from Zinkensdamm, with lots of brilliant blue sky and water. (This is the spot at which my sweetheart proposed.) Anyway, when the light goes through it, it looks all.. stained glass. When the glue dries on the glitter one (hopefully by tomorrow, it's lying on the vent now and making much more progress than before) I'll take pictures. And while I haven't been actually watching the Carol Duval show on HGTV, I have been looking through the website.. *grin* Oh, and Shannan taught me last night to make these cool little stars. I even remembered how to do it well enough today to make one for the M's parents' present. Perfect, too, because they're flat, and my normal curly ribbons would get all smooshed.

Also craft-related, sorta. How long are M&Ms good for? Last year at Christmas I bought a bag of red and green M&Ms for a food project I was planning. (Holiday ornaments made of Rice Krispy treats, covered with M&Ms by means of vanilla frosting.) I was planning on making one for each of the kids. Unfortunately, the plan was scrapped because we spent hours making gingersnaps and mulled cider instead. So, wonder if I could use them for the same thing this year? *ponder* Anyway. The gingersnaps, btw, were quite good. I think that our "thing" will be to make Magnus at least one Swedish Christmas food every year, and that's what it was last year. This year, he wants a ham. I've never cooked anything quite so big, so I'm a little nervous about that. Also, I still don't have a recipe.

And right now, my knees and back are protesting this evil chair, so I think it's time to go to bed, if I can talk the hubby into it. Night night!