on the same blissful day, i received two packages. one was suspiciously heavy. the other was a velveeta box. with two reddit gift exchanges pending, i was just buzzing with anticipation.

upon slicing through the many layers of packing tape, the first thing that i saw was a pristine piece of bubble wrap. all other pursuits were instantly forgotten as i demolished its protective pockets, ravishing the buoyant bubbles and rendering it limp, lifeless, and defeated. triumphant, i returned to the box -- only to be greeted by a note proclaiming that i was about to witness "cuddly suprises!" plushies! the time had come to add a new friend to my formidable collection of stuffed things. i read the note with ever-growing joy. not only was i lucky enough to receive three (yep, not one, not two, but THREE) amazing plushies, but my santa (a totally amazing parent-child duo) picked out the most awesome, most totally kick-ass band of new recruits that my stuffed army had ever seen. a ready-for-anything guy ("the coolest dude in the land of Ooo"!), a winged pony ("she's good at knocking clouds out of your life to make sunny skies!"), and my secret love since i was a freakishly tall youngster, chewbacca ("wookies are tough, cuddly, and very badass. [...] he will give you growls of wisdom when you need it")! these adorably portable plushies are quickly making themselves at home in my apartment -- although chewie doesn't seem content with staying home, and has attached himself to my work bag. we're going to have some big adventures!