Today’s Fortune: You are about to receive a big compliment.

The guy that writes my fortunes knows everything! Santa knows everything, too. I wonder if they are related?

We received so many packages in the last week or so from our Ravelry friends! There was a wonderful package from our friend Outdoork9lady. Her real name is Margaret, and she is Cody and Mink’s mom. Cody and Mink got to come stay with us some this summer, and we had all kinds of fun. Auntie Margaret sent a package of yummy chocolates for me, and some very nice yarn for Mom.

Mom says this is the most fabulous sock yarn she has ever seen! It is from Saffron Dyeworks. It has every single one of her very favorite colors in the whole world, and it is very soft. I was really glad we got chocolates, because yarn is nice, but it is not nearly as tasty as chocolates. Thank you so much Auntie Margaret! You made me and Mom both very happy!

We also got a good package from 2muchfun. She is my Auntie Pam, and she loves us very much. She made Mom a tinsel bikini for Christmas last year, and she has sent me all kinds of good stuff, including hula monkeys, so we were very interested to see what she sent us this time.

This box had all kinds of good stuff in it!  There were knitted sock blanks.  Those are flat knitted things that you can dye and make into your own colors for sock yarn.  Mom can’t wait to dye them and see how they turn out.  There was some really tasty homemade instant creamy cappuccino mix, and some professional haircare products for Mom.  Auntie Pam is something called a “stylist.”  That means she knows everything about hair, and when she found out that Mom uses cheap stuff from Target to wash her hair, she decided that Mom needed good hair stuff.  She sent shampoo and conditioner.  We are interested to find out if it makes a difference in how Mom’s hair looks.  Mom has a lot of hair, so she may have to start buying this stuff by the gallon.

Auntie Pam sent Mom lots of stitch markers and some things to wrap her knitting needles in.  The needle wraps are funny ducks with horns, and the stitch markers are three Gary snails, two Swedish fish, and a Christmas pickle.  Auntie Pam made all of these herself.  Mom laughed a lot when she saw them, and she really likes them a lot.

The blue box contained something called a “Madame Alexander” doll.  It is for our new grandbaby, Lexi.  Auntie Pam sent one for our other grandbaby, Lily, last Christmas.  Mom is keeping these safe for them until they are bigger.  Mom remembers when she was given her own Mom’s Madame Alexander doll when she was three.  She tore up the doll and buried it in her grandma’s garden.  That won’t be happening with the ones Auntie Pam sent.

Auntie Pam sent special stuff for me and Puglet, too!!  I got a really good flashlight with Simba on it!  Now I can read under the covers before I go to sleep.  She also sent bubblegum tape dispensers for us!  Mine is a happy California cow, and Puglet got a piglet!  We love them so much!  Thank you, Auntie Pam!

The orange fuzzy thing turned out to be a steering wheel cover for Mom’s Suburban!  She laughed so hard when she was putting it on the steering wheel!  She loves it a lot, but there is a small problem.  Mom is really short, and can’t see over the wheel to look at her instrument panel, so she looks at the space under the top of the wheel to see the speedometer.  Which is now blocked by the awesome furry wheel cover.

She says if she gets a ticket, she is sending it to Auntie Pam.

We also got a package from our friend Chiendeterre, who is my Auntie Kate.  She is the one that we stayed with when we went to Boston.  She sent lots of goodies, too!  She sent a snowman card and some Green Mountain Holiday Blend coffee that Mom and Dad really like.  There were fun Hello Kitty bandages,  a yummy smelling candle, and a “Yarn Fairy Wish List” that now lives on the fridge next to my magnetic personality.  Mom says she hopes that the Yarn Fairy will bring her everything she writes on there.  I need to get me a Pez Fairy list.

There was also a fun little sock blocker keychain, with a pattern for mini-socks.  Mom says she will knit a bunch of these and I can hang them on our button and spool tree next year for ornaments.  She also sent some Stonewall Kitchen White Pine hand soap. Mom says she is hiding that from me and Dad so we don’t use it all up. She really loves that soap.

Auntie Kate sent an awesome present for me!!  It was a “Monkeys and Apes Toob”, filled with plastic primates!  Now I can play Zookeeper, too!

Dad opened up the tube for me this morning, and they all came running out and mobbed me!   Being a zookeeper is hard work.  I think this is what they mean when they talk about “going ape.”

We also got an awesome package from our pal PuggerHugger!  She is my Auntie Jana, and we got to visit her and all of her pugs in Ashevegas last summer.  We got the funniest card from her.  It has a skating nun guinea pig on it!  You don’t see one of those every day.  Mom says we will probably keep it out on display with all of our other fun stuff all year.

She sent Mom lots of awesome yarn!  There were two skeins of Mirasol Sulka in espresso brown, and two skeins each of Mirasol K’acha in cranberry red and deep teal.  This yarn has merino wool, alpaca (like the ones I saw at the alpaca farm), and silk in it.  It is very soft and warm and pretty.  Mom says she is going to make herself a hat and scarf set from it.

The scroll thing tied up with a ribbon turned out to be for me!!!  I nearly fell over when I figured out it was a letter for me from Santa Claus!!  It was on soft fabrickey paper with fancy gold swirls on it, and this is what it said:

Dear Noah –

Mrs. Claus & I are so happy with the reports that the elves have brought us about your behavior!  It seems that you are having wonderful adventures with your family, and spreading monkey mischief and love everywhere you go.  I heard that you even visited a sock monkey shelter with your Mom.  Helping other sock monkeys less fortunate than yourself has definitely put you on the “Nice Monkey” list this year!

I do hope that you continue to be the best little sock monkey boy that you can be, starting each day with a smile, a banana, and a big hug.  Be sure to say hello to all of your friends online for me.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Your friend, St. Nick

I can’t believe I got my very own letter from Santa!!!  And I can’t believe Auntie Jana knows Santa personally, and was able to get him to send me a letter!!  She is my hero!

Mom let me hang my special letter from Santa on the fireplace mantel with our Christmas cards and the sparkaley garland.

I really like having it there.  That way I can see it all the time, and know that Santa thinks I am a special monkey!

My fortune was really right today.  I can’t think of a much bigger compliment that I could receive than being on Santa’s Nice Monkey list!

Today’s Vocabulary Words: Stylist, Madame Alexander