It was a cold and rainy night when I arrived home to FOG HQ after the dog park. Alright, it wasn’t raining just yet and it wasn’t exactly cold, but it was rather chilly (for southern California anyway).

Anyway, I checked the mail and what wonders there were!

First up was an adorable envelope from the Netherlands with a hand-drawn little cupcake on the front that said “Hello Goldfishie!” What could it be? It contained this:

It was my PRIZE! Way back in October, the lovely and über-talented Ms. TJ Lubrano held an Inktober contest and, as usual, I am a WINNER!

Honestly, I forgot about this one. It’s not that I forgot that I am a WINNER nor that I had original art on the way, but I took her for a woman of her word that she would send me my PRIZE in good time, and therefore, I just forgot that it would eventually be at my door. So, getting this last night was a total surprise.

How freakin’ cool are those prints!? Go buy her stuff on Etsy. You won’t regret it. It’s amazing. Thanks, TJ!

 

But, we weren’t done yet. I still had more mail. The next envelope I opened contained a Christmas card and this masterpiece from Evil Squirrel:

While I was disappointed to see that I didn’t get the Rainbow Donkey I thought for sure I would get if the universe contained any justice at all, I was consoled by the fact that mine does have a fist shake and the word “HUMBUG.” A curmudgeonly porcupine is perfectly me, and to be honest, a little more perfectly me than Rainbow Donkey.

Go buy Evil Squirrel’s stuff at CafePress. Thanks, ES!

 

And the final envelope contained a wolf Christmas card from the lovely Ms. Jackie as part of The Great Christmas Card Exchange with a very nice message inside that made me regret that I didn’t actually write anything personal in the cards I sent. Thanks, Jackie, and everything you said goes for you, too. I’m very glad I’ve gotten to know you.

And now, my self-sent Xmas card standing alone on the snowman card holder that my dad made has friends! The wolf from Jackie, and the penguin and curmudgeonly porcupine from Evil Squirrel.

Thanks for making my night! I’m going to need some more picture frames.

I apologize for the abysmal photography in this post. It doesn’t capture the full glory of my mail, because I really suck at photography.