holiday_wishes

Hi, everyone. I'm Tonya, and this is the second year that I've done this (though not consecutively. I believe 2006 was my first year. I'm 31 and live in Kansas, USA.

It's been a rough year, but things are starting to look up. I'll be getting back to work (my first real job in almost five years) in January, and hopefully back to school within a year. My family (Parents and I) had a home fire in January. We weren't insured, and Dad spent the first 8 months of the year on worker's compensation, so putting things back together was a little rough. Luckily we had absolutely incredible support from our church, family, and friends. They gave us back our home, and so I'm hoping to be able to give back to some other people this holiday season. We're still pretty broke, but we're getting through it.

So anyway, here's my list.

1. There are a few charities that I'd really like to see get some support this year. I'd be thrilled if you could give your time or your money to Habitat for Humanity, particularly for their Gulf Recovery program. Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf 4 years ago, and they're still a long way from recovery. The need there is still tremendous. Heifer International runs a great program meant to lift people out of poverty in a sustainable and re-creatable way. If you have some spare books lying around or spare DVDs, Comic Books, etc, think about sending them to a deployed soldier through Books for Soldiers. There are a few hoops to jump through these days, but it's so worth it. I have a family friend in the National Guard. He's spent four of the last eight years deployed overseas and will soon be leaving again. He has lots of people to write him letters, and send him the small creature comforts that we take for granted, but he's always telling us about buddies who never receive anything and how that can just drag them down.

2. I'd love a layout for my journal made just for me. I'd really like to have a Leverage layout (especially one that featured Eliot and/or Parker), but I'd adore something non-fandom related as well. A left side-bar is a must, and In really need easy to read text. I don't like pink, but other than that I'm good with pretty much any possible color scheme.

3. For the fannish types out there I'm looking for fanfic and fanvid recommendations in some new to me fandoms. I'm not picky about genre or pairings (Gen, het, slash, and femmeslash are all fine with me), but these alternate between the tiny, I don't know where to look fandoms and gargantuan, I don't know where to start fandoms. These are: The Spectacular Spiderman animated series (the newest of the animated series where they are in high school, I've tried all the comms I know for Spiderman), Tin Man, The Mentalist, dueSouth, The Sentinel, and The Dresden Files.

4. Be kind to retail workers -- I think this is something different from the standard Random Acts of Kindness. It is so very easy to get caught up in the stress, rush, and craziness of the holidays. Our tempers can be short with everyone, and employees of retail stores tend to be on the receiving end of that more than most people. Just try to remember that they're just trying to do their job. Their day has probably been just as stressful as yours, and yelling at them really doesn't help. If you're having a good enough day to remember, a simple thank you is something that is pretty rare and always appreciated.

5. Books -- New, used, digital, it doesn't matter to me. I love to read, and lost nearly 300 books in the fire. I'm slowly rebuilding that collection, but I'd appreciate anything I got. I'd love to have anything that really struck a chord with you, or made you see the world in a different way. Fiction or non-fiction, it's all good. I have a particular weakness for the urban fantasy genre and post-apocalyptic sci-fi, but I'll read pretty much anything but romance novels. Graphic novels to Westerns to Lit-fic to social commentaries. I love it all.

6. Cookbooks/Recipes -- I feel like these need a separate entry, because I really really want them separate and apart from my desire for fun and interesting things to read. I love to cook, and between my mom and I we probably lost 100 cookbooks. Mom prefers good old-fashioned homestyle cooking, but I'm particularly fond of regional and ethnic specialties. I love Indian and Thai food especially, and baking. If I could only ever get one cookbook back that I lost, it would be the More With Less cookbook. Best granola and high-protein cookie recipes I've ever found, and I miss them a lot. I'd also take copies of any of your favorite recipes, whether they're written out on a card and mailed, or just e-mailed to me.

7. Spices -- This is probably the most expensive thing to replace in our kitchen. I'm getting there, slowly, but I could still use almost any spice, particularly specifically asian or Indian spices. A few years ago, someone sent me a huge jar of Garam Masala. It was a Turkish import and the secret ingredient in my holiday turkey. It will be missed this year, but I'd love to get more of it, or even just find a supplier so I can have it again next year. (round plastic bottle about five or six inches tall with, I believe a gold or yellow plastic lid. Most of the label was in script I can't read, but I do remember that it said it was from Turkey, mostly because it always amused me that it was my #1 turkey ingredient)

8. Avenue Gift Cards -- I mentioned that I'll be starting a new job in January. They don't require me to dress up a whole lot, but I will be expected to have business casual attire. I haven't had to wear anything fancier than jeans and basic pullover type shirts in so long that I'm not sure I have anything to wear. I know I'll be getting a little money in December that I plan to put towards a work wardrobe, but a little extra couldn't hurt. I love Avenue's clothes, and it's the only store that I've ever been able to buy a shirt at which I didn't have to have altered to fit properly, so this would be much appreciated.

9. Jewelry -- I used to have about a million necklaces, bracelets, and rings (size 8 1/2 or 9). I'm looking to start rebuilding my collection. I prefer white metals to gold (sterling silver and stainless steel are my favorites) and love things with no stone or pretty much any colored stone. My birthstone is garnet, and I love them. Other favorites include green amber, hematite, opals, jade, and pearls (real or glass, doesn't matter). Even just something simple would really make my day.

10. And the requisite seemingly impossible item -- My laptop, quite miraculously still works, but I'm scared to death that it could die at any moment. The case is kind of melty, and it's just not quite right. I'd really like to replace it. It wouldn't have to be new and I'm not picky on platform. I would like something at least as good as it was, which isn't very. It's old (2002) with 512 MB of RAM and an 80 GB hard drive, running Windows XP. It's plenty of computer for my day-to-day use. If you've got an old one sitting around gathering dust, I'd be pleased as punch to take it off your hands. Like I said, I'm not picky about platform. I'm familiar with Windows, Mac, and several builds of Linux.

Wow, this ended up much longer than I had really intended. Thank you to everyone who takes a look, whether you send anything or not. Also, a big thank you to the maintainers of the comm. If you need my physical address, you can e-mail me at delwyncole (at) cox (dot) net. Thanks again and Merry Christmas, or happy whatever holiday you celebrate.