Christmas presents

Today is Friday the thirteenth. It is also the school's Christmas lunch and the day Becca's decided to get her hair cut short. Good omen.
I got my first Christmas presents this morning. From Becca, I got a tall mug with enamel Eeeyore relief on the sides, with a little blue plush Eeyore inside(!) In case I never mentioned it before, I adore Eeyore. Not only is he a donkey, but he's depressed. "Smile and get it over with." I love him. I love Becca too.

Meg got me two presents, a Winnie-the-Pooh bauble with a little Pooh inside together with a handful of sweets. Very Christmassy. She also got me a box of lollipops. They were both going for a Winnie-the-Pooh theme, and Becca remembered how much I adore Eeyore. She even remembered I like him better when he's grey, not blue. Unfortunately the only one that would fit into the mug had to be blue.

Anyway. Bev also had a present for me, but she didn't know today is my last day and so she didn't bring it in. Every time it's mentioned, she and Becca and Meg all burst into giggles. I can only surmise it is something extremely hilarious, but I don't get to find out what for three weeks. Huh.

Unfortunately, I don't get to go into lunch until five to one. Yayness. I'm missing French conversation now, of course, but I don't think it really matters, not in the grand scheme of things.

Ella has hung two tinsel stars up in the classroom. We're currently winning in the decoration stakes, as we're the only form with any decorations at all. It's all a little surreal, but very nice. Mrs Bush managed to spend ten minutes talking this morning about the importance of going to lessons and not being in a festive mood and forgetting the fact it's December until Wednesday at four o'clock. On Wednesday at four o'clock, I will be in New Delhi.

Needed

The Christmas lunch... is not the issue. It was okay, I guess. Actually more than okay - made me feel Christmassy, and it was funny and I got a weird thingit in my cracker - you stick it on your finger and it makes you look like you've stabbed a nail through it.
But it is not important.

What is important is the fact I feel loved, and un-screwed-over.
Both _vertigo and eniddy got hugs from me today. No shrieking from me, no holding at arm's length.

[In fact, _vertigo suggested that Becca and I pretend to be gay to get out of PE (don't ask for the logic). We moved towards each other quite naturally. Maybe the hugging phobia is dissipating.
I said maybe.]

I feel loved. For once, I really do. More than that, I feel needed.
Needed.

I need to pack, or at least begin - tomorrow, I have to buy myself a book for the flight (I was thinking either some Star Trek fluff I don't need to concentrate on, or Tamora Pierce, or Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, or Minority Report).

And now I have to start packing, finding clothes, etc...

Needed.

Packing

So things are going quite well. I have some stuff arranged and ready to pack, and I've decided what to wear on the flight, I have even found my notebook and inserted seven CDs into a nice new CD holder. I need to find batteries for the CD player, and find something to eat, and I'll have achieved something tonight.

Of course, I didn't get this far without some ( help... )