Our day started when the doorbell rang at 9:00 a.m.--on Sunday morning! Bob got up and looked out the window and saw that it was the mailman, who had apparently left something on the doorstep, rang the bell, then went back to his truck. Bob went down to see what it was, and brought it back up to the bedroom--it was something I had ordered for him a few weeks ago, but that had never come.

I'd called the company and they said there had been a delay in production, so I'd just printed out the description from their website and tucked it in his Christmas card. It was obvious from the return address what it was, not that it would have been a surprise anyway.

Yesterday I received a package in the mail from a reader containing two hand-crocheted stockings for the cats:

They inspected them thoroughly before I hung them up on the fireplace. Hopefully Santa will leave a little something there for them tonight.

If you're in the U.K. and read Things magazine, take a look at the current issue. There's an article in it either by or about me, I'm not totally sure--they wrote and asked if they could use excerpts from my journal about The Sims, and I gave my permission. They're supposed to be sending me copies, but I haven't received them yet.

The title is a little disconcerting, although almost certainly appropriate: Sims Tips: Journal of an Obsession.