Dear Santa,

I would first of all like to thank you for your amazing patience! I wrote in my preferences that I would be away for most of the gifting period. I saw the parcel arrive, and my office sent me an email that it had arrived, but I was away. There was a small chance that I was able to pick it up between two trips, but my flight back home was massively delayed and the office closed when I came home. Saturday I returned from another trip that ended at the office, but none of my colleagues had a key to open the room where the mail is stored. Yet another nail-biting weekend for me. Argh!

So today I went back to work, earlier than usual. Of course the room was still closed. Two more trips down there, and finally I received the very heavy parcel.

And what can I say: It rocks! Absolutely!

There's a selection of cookbooks with lots of recipes that I have to try out. Italian (yummy!), spicy food (yiha!) and vegetables (how did you know that I'd like to experiment more with vegetables other than just using them as sides?). Plus a small Chinese cookbook.

And then: a BIG box of good quality colour pencils! Every geologist loves colour pencils anyway, and I love them even more for logic puzzles and colouring books, and just for the sensation of sharpening :). And a second box of colour pencils, metallic colours! I didn't know they existed, so I really have to experiment with them. They look absolutely brilliant!

The final gift made me giggle so much! I wrote that I'm not a girly girl, don't like smells and pink and the likes. I got a colouring book with unicorns! Can you get more girly than that? I don't know yet, but I will certainly use it in a few relaxing hours, probably with dirty, dark colours, or colouring in evil unicorns! Or for the fun of it go all pink and pastel after all.

This is such a fantastic box full of simple pleasures. Thanks a lot dear Santa. You didn't write a note but I hope there's a bit of your simple pleasures in this box as well :)