Tom stopped at Mary’s after work and picked up our presents. So, the freeloaders didn’t shorten our present list like I thought they would. The only ones we didn’t get anything from were David and Evie, but they stopped doing presents like we did.

We each received a hundred bucks from mom, and of course, my hundred’s going right into my doll fund. I’m getting 5 of them instead of 4, but I’ll explain that after.

Tom got a really cool wrench that can fit many different-sized nuts and some rollercoaster computer game where you build an amusement park.

I got an elephant figurine from Mom. Truthfully, I hate elephants. They’re fat, ugly and gray, so I stuck them in his room.

Also from Mom was a wish book she made. Although I thought it was a little tacky looking and sort of childish, I wrote a wish on each of the 6 pages:

1. I wish for Tom and I to be happy and healthy
2. I want my Teddy Bear
3. I want more money
4. I want to lose 20 pounds
5. I want Little Buddy to live longer than most rats
6. I want those who have used/abused the law against me out of my life forever.

Lastly from mom, I got this thing called Hairagami. When I first saw it advertised on TV, I thought it looked really cool, but it’s not that easy. They make it look so easy, but it’s close to impossible. It’s for making all different kinds of sophisticated buns and ponytails. It’s frustratingly hard that I don’t think I’ll even bother with it.

I got a puzzle CD from Mary and Dave that’s way cool. The best gift of all, I’d say. It has something like 75 pictures to use as puzzles and it lets you set the size and number of the pieces.

Mary and Dave got the both of us a really pretty wind chime. I have it out front, but I haven’t heard much of it lately. It’s not that windy.

From Carol and Steven, we received an interesting wind chime. It’s this thing you put candles in, and the heat is supposed to make the little chimes sound, but it doesn’t work, so I just threw it on top of the fridge for decoration. It actually works much better if I just blow on the thing!

Also from Carol and Steven is this big candle in a jar with 3 different scents - peanut butter, sugar cookie and oatmeal raisin. Most scented candles don’t seem to smell, even with my nose as sharp as it is, but this one does. It’ll be nice during the cold nights or during the monsoons, though we didn’t have nearly as many power outages last summer as we did the summer before.

From Jackie and Jim, we got a couple of boxes of candy. Chocolate-covered coconut and chocolate-covered peanuts. Tom doesn’t like either of them.

Supposedly, Nora and Ray have something for me, which surprised me. I really thought that with having a black grandkid, they’d turn against us for sure.

Last night we went to the casino, which wasn’t as fun as it could’ve been. It was too crowded. Everyone just had to play the 25¢ machines I like and so I had trouble getting a machine. The smoke in there was gross. I could smell it on my clothes even after we got home. Sure enough, though, we lost. I didn’t have any good vibes the whole time. Tom lost $10 on a poker game, and I lost $20 of my $40 on the slot machines. Once I was down to my final $20, I decided to add another doll to my list with it, rather than give it to the casino. Yes, for once, I had some say in what happened to our money!

I changed my parts around again in my bio. It’s just that I’m trying to avoid having a zillion chapters.

I’m so glad Christmas falls on a Tuesday this year. That’s one less Tuesday I have to worry about Scot bugging me. Especially since I know I’ll be asleep throughout most of the afternoon.