Well. I was speechless. I seem to have regained the power of speech for the time being.

My Arbitrary Day Santa sent me two meaningful, wonderful, will-be-treasured gifts. I truly love them; I have to confess to tears upon opening the box, seeing the contents...

I have an autoimmune disease. It's degenerative. It's sometimes debilitating. It causes excessive amounts of pain, seizures, GI issues galore, cascading allergies, systemic allergic reactions that last for months on end, exhaustion, anemia, loos of the field of vision in one eye, and sometimes severe mobility issues. I am lucky in that I am occasionally nearly symptom-free. I have 'flares', times in which symptoms are not only present but persistent and pervasive.

I am exceptionally difficult to treat, due to cascading allergies, and systemic allergic reactions. We have found literally no medications whatsoever, including medications for allergy suppression, which I have not had a severe, usually anaphylactic (going into shock many, many times), reaction to. Pain meds are out of the question entirely, even when I've broken bones from falling (vertigo is yet another symptom), or from and out-of-nowhere seizure. Immunosuppressants have landed me on death's door multiple times. It's remarkable how my body resists treatment.

All of that prelude was to give context to the reader, to understand why these gifts are so meaningful to me. Right now, you see, I am in the midst of a flare. Walking, even sanding, is difficult at this time. Opening a bottle is impossible. Eating is out of the question. I'm mentally and emotionally exhausted, on top of the physical exhaustion. I cannot do much right now.

My Santa sent me the boardgame Glass Road. My all time favourtie boardgame is Agricola, which is by the same designer as Glass Road. Since its debut at Essen, I have wanted Glass Road. It is a very 'me' game, and I cannot wait to play it. Boardgames are something I am capable of doing, even when my body is attacking itself. They bring me so much joy! Its an activity I can invite friends over to do, even when I am feeling awful. My husband and my children frequently play with me, especially when I am not doing well physically, and it's this lovely little family activity. I am incredibly excited to have a new game, and such a great game to boot!

In addition to that absolutely perfect addition to my boardgame collection, my Santa also sent me the Shadowrun Fifth Edition core rulebook. I've been running and playing tabletop RPGs since the early 1990's, when I was in high school. My weekly group has been meeting for a decade now. This is a hobby that again, I can participate in no matter the state of my health. My group has been requesting that I pick up the FIfth Edition book since its release last year; they are chomping at the bit for me to run another Shadowrun campaign, and the newest edition is a great catalyst for making this happen. Shadowrun is a fantastic, immersive, gritty game set in a well-fleshed world. I am going to have a marvelous time parsing the new rules, creating a new campaign.

Thank you Santa. This is an incredible, generous, thoughtful gift, which will bring me long-lasting joy.