Barmy Blue's Bland Blog

I got a candle and Yuki got a green knot bone.

So. What have I done today?

Not much.

Helped mum put some baubles on the ceiling for her Christmas vision. We can't find the regular hanging decorations. How annoying.

I wrapped some more tinsel around the rest of the banisters.

I just finished making the second paper chain and taping it together for security. Now my scissors are all sticky again.

I got a new notebook the other day but for a particular reason, not to start another collection. I plan to collect some information on my relatives when we visit them. Nothing invasive. It's just that we're not a very close family and it's very hard to get Christmas gifts for people you don't really know very well. I want to at least get their full dates of birth so I can work out their ages each subsequent year.

I'm mainly doing this so I don't have to guess how old Chi and Usa are every year and I figured while I'm at it it would be helpful for the rest of the family too. At the moment I think Chi is 2-3 and Usa is 1-2. I'm pretty sure about this because last year I was trying to knit that suit for Chi (never finished it by the way) and it was for a 1-2 year old so it should have been the perfect size for him. Also I wanted to finish the other one that mum started about a year earlier for someone else's baby (Kitty) for Usa and that was 0-1 years. So If that was last year then Chi must be 2-3 and Usa 1-2 this year.

I can't try and count up from that every year.

My aunt (the dead one) sent me a birthday card every year with a numbered sticker on when I was little. It was supposed to be for the age I was but she always put on the wrong sticker. I didn't mind. It was quirky. But I don't want to make that mistake with Chi and Usa because children grow so quickly and they probably won't have the same attitude as me.

Other information I'd like to collect for the other relatives are things like favourite colour(s)/styles/themes, interests/hobbies and stuff like that. I think it will be good for conversation if nothing else since my conversation will be quite dry this year. I'll be a little unhappy if they don't answer my questions but I'll be understanding. If they don't want to tell me something they don't have to. It's entirely optional.

I just hate getting a name for the Secret Santa and thinking what the hell am I going to get them? But if I can look in my book and say ah, they like red and general hot colours, they like to go out for long walks in the cold maybe they'd like a red or red based coloured scarf for example.

If I didn't have the book and still decided to get that person a scarf then there's a high chance I'll get it wrong. What if I got blue and they actually hate blue? They wouldn't know until they opened it and then they'd have to think of something nice to say.

If I only get to give a single family member one gift within a certain price range I really really want to get it right. I don't want to play it safe and e.g. get nice smelling bath stuff for a woman. That's so unimaginative. I got that last year and it just feels like whoever got it just wanted to play it safe. The only thing I've used from that set is the single fizzing bath bomb because those are fun. Everything else is completely unopened and gathering dust in the corner of the bathroom. That's not how a gift should be treated.

It's not so much that I hate the gift. It's just that to me it's saying I don't really know you and this is kind of awkward. Besides, I have my own bath ritual. I know what kind of bubble bath I like and what soap gives me lovely soft skin.

Also, although it's not intended that way, receiving bathing goods makes me paranoid that I stink and this is a message to do something about it. It is possible to have an unpleasant odour and not know it. Sometimes you may not notice your own odour because you're used to it and so are those around you but if you go and spend time with other people who aren't around you all day then they will notice something like that. Of course they may be embarrassed to tell you or afraid of offending you so they give you bathing goods in the hopes that you'll use them and wash the stink off of yourself.

I know it's unlikely......although not completely impossible but just can't help thinking things like that. It's bad enough that I can't use mint toothpaste, as most people associate minty breath as being fresh clean breath.

So....any other news? Well. i think it was a 24 hour kind of bug because it seems fine now. That's all I'll say on that topic.

Oh. Yesterday I made a little mistake. When I said rules for Napoleon to follow I actually meant suggestions or requests. It's not like I was thinking of following him around and barking orders at him . Then again, suggestions or requests isn't much better but it's better than saying rules or orders.

I'll give up on that idea. It was just a silly idea. Although, if he did follow those suggestions I still think it would be perfect but there's no guarantee of that. It doesn't necessarily have to be Napoleon that upsets me.

It's just that last year I had a little fight with him which continued until dinner where it eventually dissipated (for me at least, I think it dissipated for him sooner, it's just that I'm a vengeful person and hold grudges for longer) and I was getting depressed in the run up to and during Christmas. It wasn't just him. There were other things too. I just don't want to get sad this year. I'm well aware that my selfish sulking brings everyone else down too and I really don't want that .

So. Yes. I am a selfish child but just maybe not as selfish as I might have come across yesterday. Then again, don't you guys already know that?

On another note. Yesterday's blog, apparently, was number 365. That's enough for a blog a day for a whole year. I thought there'd be more than that by now. I'm kind of relieved that my years of blogging only add up to one year's worth of entries. You know I've been concerned about the space I must be taking up somewhere on the internet.

Well. I'm off now.

Bluebiird out.


P.S. I put in some smilies just for fun.