What is pictured above is the last gasp of a roll of wrapping paper.

This might not seem like a big deal until you realize I’ve been using this paper for 4 or 5 years now, and you’re only seeing a fraction of the gifts that I’ve wrapped with it. I got it while dumpster diving at our local “Reuse Center”. That’s a place where one can donate building supplies, household goods that are still usable, and so on. For example, you replace your kitchen sink with a new one, but the old one still has years of serviceable live, you take it to the Reuse Center (they have lots of sinks!). Or you install a new tile floor and have half a box left over, you can take it to the Reuse Center (someone might buy it to make a mosaic!)

Some years ago, I was there dropping off some items (medicine cabinet / mirror, a light fixture, stuff like that). As I was leaving, I saw a perfectly good roll of Christmas wrapping paper in the dumpster. After getting a “whatever!” nod of approval from a member of the staff, I retrieved it. We have some reusable cloth bags, so I don’t use it for every gift, but I have been using it extensively over these years (mainly for gifts we ship to relatives). I was starting to think of it as my “Hanukkah Lights Christmas paper” - if that splicing of holidays is not too sacrilegious! - because it just never seemed to end. The cornucopia, horn of plenty, never-ending roll of paper.

Well, this year, it finally came to an end. Here’s the last pile of presents, with the sad looking empty tube. Our niephlings aren’t going to recognize our gifts next year!

T-boy said to me this morning, “I need some chocolate to cheer me down.” I’m trying to figure out where that particular construction comes from - a combination of “cheer me up” and “calm me down” perhaps? Odd.

But anyway, one thing that has been cheering me (up and down) this week is that I can take my coat off the normal way without any help! It might seem like a small thing, but long-time readers (what is that, 3 people now? :^) will remember that I broke my arm back at the end of September. For the 6+ weeks I was in a cast, I relied on a thrift store poncho. Despite the jaunty fashion statement it made, I gladly switched to a coat once the sling came off on November 13th - but I quickly realized that getting it on and off would be tough. To put it on, I just had to make sure to put the left arm in first (instead of my ‘normal’ right arm lead). Taking it off was more difficult, and I often relied on an assistant, or my teeth, or some other trick.

So it was with much rejoicing this past Wednesday when I realized I could remove it “the normal way,” by shrugging my shoulders and slipping it off both arms at once! It took 5 weeks of physical therapy and home exercises to get to this point, and there are still many things I can’t do (especially using my arm behind my back). But I’d been particularly down the previous week, despairing at how long it might take to fully recover functionality, that this small thing was a welcome sign of progress! Quite enough to cheer me down, indeed.

I just discovered “Dad Labs” today. Their tagline is “taking back paternity”, and despite having a serious note, it’s also fairly humorous. On a whim, I watched this juice box tasting video, and it had me laughing out loud. Whoever you are, you must watch it, and watch the whole thing (don’t give up during the ‘nutrition facts’ part at the beginning!).