Melbonie

Hi Santa! I'm a 40 something lady from Western Massachusetts. Married, no kids. We have a cat and keep a coupla freshwater aquariums of fish and snails. I'm a medical social worker w a local non-profit home care agency, my spouse is a sales exec in the auto parts industry. I have a few hobbies- I like to sew; still a beginner, especially with clothing, but I'm getting pretty alright at quilting. I also enjoy working with paper, decoupage, paint, clay and general arts and crafts type stuff. I'm an avid gardener of vegetables, flowers and herbs. I'm also on a mission to landscape our suburban property with food bearing and native pollinator plants. I love nature and the outdoors in general.
My favorite animal is all of them, though I'm known to have a collection of giraffes, and I'm especially fond of all of the safari-type animals, (elephants, rhinos, hippos, etc) I enjoy birdwatching and I stock bird feeders in our yard when it isn't bear season. Our neighbors got chickens during the pandemic, best thing to happen to our neighborhood in the history of me living in it. I frickin love birds, all types of birds. Bats too. And bees. I like to cook and bake, I've gotten into learning how to prepare a bunch of international cuisines throughout the pandemic, since many of my fave restaurants were closed. Some of my favorites cuisines are Thai, Greek, German and Italian. I've more of a sweet than salty palate in terms of treats- some of my favorite flavors are dark chocolate, peanut butter, lemon, berry, mango, maple, vanilla... and coffee is life. I like to read, though admittedly the internet is ruining my attention span for it. Last books I read were "A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World," "Between the World and Me" and "The Body Keeps the Score." So, kinda all over the place. My most read and all time favorite book is "The Stand" by Stephen King. I'm trying to get into meditating to deal with the stress and anxiety that comes from being in human services just lately. I'm not very good at it. I try to live pretty simply and frugally, I'm not a #1 super great capitalist consumer for the most part. I've cared deeply about the environment, and animals, and clean water and decent soil since Mrs Gromacki taught me all about that stuff in my 7th grade language arts class. I'm pretty frustrated at where things are headed in that regard, but trying like hell to remain hopeful. I don't watch a lot of TV but some of my all-time faves are Community, The Good Place, Parks and Rec, New Girl, and for something new I'm loving What We Do In the Shadows. Not loving much in the way of TV drama these days but I liked Twin Peaks, Lost, The Wire. I like PBS documentaries, like POV, Nova, Frontline. I like David Attenborough type nature docs. I loved the Simpsons and South Park- I still watch em, but you know... Bob's Burgers, Archer and Rick & Morty are doing it better these days. I'm not into sports but I absolutely love the Olympics. I'm saving up to cross off a bucket list item and go to LA for Summer Olympics in 2028 My husband and I are building a collection of board games- "Santa" brings us a classic every Christmas. Last year we got Connect 4. I'm hoping for Ants in the Pants or Cootie this year. :) My favorite redditgift exchange was condiments. My Santa really knocked that one out of the park. lots of neat local stuff. Exchange doesn't have to be costly to delight me: I love homemade stuff, or my-friend's-an-artist-or-craftsperson made stuff, heck, hand drawn pictures from kids. I like new recipes. I like neat or interesting boxes and baskets and bags and tins. I like local-to- you stuff. I collect reusable grocery bags- when I travel, I like to buy them from shops that don't exist where I live. Usable reusable souvenirs! I like weird or infamous regional snacks. I like silly stuff- I have growing collection of fake mustaches, mostly gifted because people know it's my go-to disguise. Wore one for the "first look" photos at our wedding, even. One of my favorite gifts ever was giant googly eyes. Hilarious! I wrote (and keep adding to) this crazy long ass profile to give a good idea of what I'm all about. But I guess that's it for now. LOL Thanks for reading this far, and if there is info you're missing, please-- feel free to message me!