5 Days until Christmas

At my work Christmas party, we did Secret Santa. Let me set this story up for you:

Now, back in the fall, a woman named Amber came into the store with her sister, fresh from a craft store selling her sister's jewelry. She bought a lot of stuff, and mentioned that she would like to work there for the discount. I encouraged her to apply, as we were still in need of one more night person at that point, and I like to surround myself with crafty people.

We hired her a while later (my boss is slow to decide on things like this), and we didn't see each other much. Our schedules always conflicted. However, one day she comes in shopping with her friend Aimee, maker of Snuggle Bug Quilts. They tell me that she's hosting a craft show at her house, where Amber's sister's stuff will be displayed. I am excited, and determine then that DS will take me, come hell or high water.

And we go. And while I like the jewelry my friend's sister makes, it was the quilts I fell in love with. Except, they weren't "quilts" perse. They were so artsy. Some were small, like 8x10 size, and framed. More like textile art than quilts really.

Of course, these pieces were much too expense for poor little me. It was the little mushroom wallet that I fell in love with. Only 11.50, and yet still too much for my broke bank pay. That didn't stop me from mooning over it for an hour, and carrying it around the house with me like it was already mine. I got Aimee's e-mail address before leaving, promising to buy it as soon as I could.

Now, back to the Secret Santa thing. What did I get? My mushroom wallet. But you see, Amber wasn't supposed to have my name. We all knew she had Bridget's name, because she was the last one to pick up her person's wish list. So when I opened my gift, I was expecting it to be from Jenna, because Jenna had brought both presents.

I must have sat there for several minutes, trying to figure out how Jenna would know that I wanted this wallet. And once she told me they had switched names, I was so touched. Not only did this woman buy me this thing that I treasured so dearly, but she went around asking who had me so she could give it to me



Nestled inside the wallet? A gift card to Starbucks, another sweet sweet thing. The 1 or 2 times I've worked with her, she always comes in with something good from there. And I always whine about it not being fair to bring that stuff in there and not sharing. And then she always lets me have a drink...

This was a small gift, true, but it meant so much.