What a Wonderful Friday

Friday was seriously wonderful. The day started out great. Baby Bean made it to daycare and didn't pitch a fit when I dropped her off. (We found out Wednesday she has a double ear infection.) Her antibiotics and decongestants were working. The plan for work that day was to have our holiday lunch (in lieu of a big Christmas party to save money) and then let our coworkers know who we all had for Secret Santa. Yeah, it was pretty hard to buckle down and work.

At 11:00 it came time for the award part of the holiday party. I found my BF, A (who takes Baby Bean's pictures), and we went to the party together. They issued the annual awards for the top performers, and in between each category they gave out door prizes. The first set of prizes were $25 gift cards, free lunches with senior staff, and free vacation days. The second round offered $50 gift cards along with the lunches and vacation days. The third round offered the Big Daddy Prizes.

I am no longer allowed to think, "They won't call my name. I never win anything," which is exactly what I was thinking when they held up the Nik.on Co.olpix S320 camera.


The next thing I knew, my name was being called and all of my teammates and friends were cheering and clapping wildly. It took me a second to realize I was supposed to go up and claim the certificate for the camera.

The funny thing is I won $100 in gift cards at last year's Christmas party, and an iP.od at the one before that. So nope, no longer allowed to think I don't win, especially with the odds of wining at this company.

After lunch, the unveiling of the Secret Santas began. The woman who had me did an excellent job with all of her gifts during the week. Fuzzy purple socks and a bag of Re.eses Bells. My final present was a pair of pink pajamas with elephants on them for Baby Bean. They are so stinking adorable! I really felt like a winner.

But the biggest surprise was yet to come.

I got home from work that night and walked up to the front door. My arms were full of baby, a diaper bag, my purse, the mail, and gifts from work. There was a box sitting next to the front door. I figured it was for Hubs because he has been ordering all of my presents off the Internet. I went inside, set down the baby and everything else and went back out to get the box. I was surprised when I saw Baby Bean's name on it. I figured it was from one of the grandma's. I flipped the box over and saw it was from Heather, from Heather's Daily Life. The present had come all of the way from Australia from a very dear blogger friend just for my baby!

I couldn't wait to get it inside and open it. When I did I giggled with delight and squealed as I pulled out a stuffed wombat and then the cutest little outfit.



I was so excited and completely touched. My first instinct was to call Heather to thank her, and then I realized I couldn't. I thought I would just go see her and give her a hug then and tell her thank you in person, and then I realized I couldn't do that either. So I called my dad who had lived in Australia a long time ago and told him about it, then sat down and wrote Heather an email thanking her for her sweet gift. It was by far my most favorite part of the day.

Baby Bean loves the wombat, who is named "Russell." It says so on his tag. I can't wait until she is big enough to wear the outfit. I am definitely going to take pictures and post them on the blog when she is.

Heather, I know I've already thanked you twice, but thank you again from the bottom of my heart. You are so sweet and caring, and a very loving woman. I am so blessed to have you in my life. I hope you enjoy the Christmas card once it gets there. It pales in comparison to the sweet things you sent me. lol