#365Gratitude Day 362: Better as it gets older

My friend William gave me an amazing gift a while back.  He made me homemade beer, called DC Munch Beer, with an adorable ageplay pride label.  One or two bottles had special "Mako Edition" labels.  The last one of these, a big growler, has been sitting in my fridge, waiting for me to open it for a while.

"It's okay to nurse your beer."

Tonight, apropos of nothing, I decided tonight was the night.  Missy had to work, and I made dinner for myself and my sister-in-law Marybeth.  We had very nice lobster bisque (which I warmed, from a box).  I don't know how to make it yet, but I want to learn.  Plus, we had excellent fancy-shmancy grilled cheese sandwiches, with mushrooms I sautéed, and guacamole.  (Trust me, they're amazing.)  

MB was hesitant about the bisque, but I told her to be bold, and unafraid, and give it a shot.  She LOVED IT.  I decided to celebrate by cracking open the last bottle of my custom beer.  It's been in the fridge aging for a long while.

It was fantastic.

As is my friendship with the man who made it.  William is a great friend.  He's visited, spent lovely time with my family.  I've always liked him enormously, and over time, we've gone from casual friends to very good ones indeed.

I'm very glad for his friendship, which, just like his beer, continues to get better the longer it ages.

#365Gratitude Day 361: 36,000

I'm actively writing again.  Spent the better part of my day tinkering, editing, and retooling in my new novel, A Little Patch of Sunshine.  I'm up to over 36,000 words now.  I just started the ninth chapter.  I estimate the book is still not 1/3rd done, but getting close to that mark.

It feels really good.  Each time I do sit down to write, I become more certain about things I've ben mulling over for a while.  I think the process of reading what I've already got to folks is having the desired effect.  Been heating up this keyboard all afternoon.

It feels good.

#365Gratitude Day 360: The Sneakiest Christmas Ninja

As I've said before, I love my wife.

Part of why I love her is because she's got a deep, loving, giving personality.  Whenever something bad happens in the news, she's right there, deeply feeling sorrow with whomever's at the business end of the tragedy.  But she has this same empathy at the micro level, too.  She wants to do good things for people.  

An opportunity for just such a thing came up, recently.  We've got this neighbor who has a young daughter.  Her husband just moved out, maybe a month before Christmas.  "I just got separated at Christmas, yay!" said no-one, ever.

Missy got this great idea, and totally got me and my sister-in-law Marybeth into it.  We would be Secret Christmas Ninjas.  Missy ordered a doll for the daughter, online.  When it came, Marybeth wrapped it, really nicely.  I went to a local grocery store and got a gift certificate.  Missy wrote "Merry Christmas!" on it and sealed it up in an envelope attached to the present.

Then, Christmas Eve (yesterday), she sneaked it over to their front door, and did a ding-and-dash on their doorbell.

Watch.

After she jetted back from her mission, Missy parked herself in the one part of our house where sound travels through from their house, and could hear their delighted cries of surprise.

But the best confirmation came later that night.  Missy got this text message.

Neighbor: "Were you Santa?"

Missy: "Santa who? Huh?"

Neighbor: "We just had a mystery gift on our doorstep and I'm trying to think of who it could be."

Missy: "No idea! Merry Christmas!"

See?  I LOVE HER.

#365Gratitude Day 359: That look

So we had a very nice Christmas.  Missy and I got Marybeth something she's really, really wanted for a while.  Marybeth got me something I have really, really wanted for a while.  (Hint, it rhymes with Zicrophone Groom.) 

I got some amazing presents, including a custom-cross-stitched shark sweater that's beautiful (from Rachel), and an absolutely adorable BB-8 iPhone-controllable sphere droid.  (It's amazing.)

But the best thing was the look on Missy's face when I surprised her with a very nice necklace and ring.

She was not expecting any such thing.  And she got this wonderful look on her face.

You know the look I'm talking about.  That look of "I'm overwhelmed because someone is doing something so nice for me that I can't even process how much it means to me."

I LOVE THAT LOOK.  Wanna see it on Missy's face?

Who am I kidding?  Of course you do.

I love her so much.

#365Gratitude Day 358: Now I know my ABC's...

So, just before Auntie Squee and I "changed out fetlives", by which I mean announced our relationship to our fetlife friends by changing our profiles, we decided to do a plushie exchange.

Wave hi to the nice readers, Terry!

I sent her one of my sharks, Terry Adorable.

And she in return sent me Broccoli.

No, not like actual vegetable broccoli.  Broccoli is a plushie.  She's really cool.  She's got teensy little arms and legs, and wears a blue checked skirt/dress thing that's cute.  

She told me shortly after she got to my house that if I want to I can call her "Brocs" or even "Brox" for short, when I'm in a hurry.

Here's the ABC Gang, together.

So Missy films me opening my Brox Box from Auntie Squee, which was like this super-tender and wonderful moment together.  Then we cuddle up and go to bed.  As I'm drifting off, I realized something awesome which I told Missy, and I'll tell you now.

Now my three most important plushies are a sort of gang or club.

There's...

Alice - who's my friend.  My mommy Missy got her custom made for me special, because she's the in-person avatar of my imaginary friend.  Alice represents how amazing my life with Missy as my wife and Mommy is to me.  She gets me, and actively takes good care of me, in all sorts of ways.  She often knows what I need before I do, and it shows.  She got me Alice the doll after watching me struggle so hard to explain what Alice looks like, and how important she is to me.  It's a really touching story.

Broccoli - who's my cuddle buddy.  Broccoli belonged to Auntie Squee for a long time, and was her constant companion in all sorts of ways and places.  I have visited with Broccoli over Skype many, many times.  Broccoli does this super important job for my Auntie, and for me.  She's like the local Squee Ambassador in my home, and my life.  She's there for me to cuddle whenever I want and need to.  This is important, because we live hundreds of miles apart.  Auntie Squee and I are constantly fine-tuning the way we connect, and finding little times and ways to be a part of each other's day.  Having Brox here with me, is a big one.  

Chum - Chum is my alpha plushie.  I've had him for over 12 years now.  He was a gift from my ex, and he's one of the stars of Finding Nemo.  He's a mako shark, and he does this super important job for me.  He's the seat of my insecurities.  He's timid, shy, reserved, and more than a little neurotic.  He stays home safe, while I go out in the world and do big scary things.  Chum is a link to my past, and the avatar of an enormous part of my personality.  I love him, and know him to be an intentionally-made-separate part of myself.  

Together, these three form the ABC Gang.  I love them.