Oy, Kate, that's a very sit-com-esque event.

It was! My back was turned, so I didn't see who it was and I don't think they saw too much, but still. Awkward.

And now I write an email to our Operations folks asking for a lock on that door.

I think that having a small infant should mean I don't have to deal with gift giving this year.

Yeah, me too.

I've heard that people do that within families sometimes. I like to buy presents, but then I don't have in=law drama, workplace Yankee swap and all the rest of that slowing my roll.

Last year my FiL got me a spice sampler collection from Oaktown Spice (in Oakland, natch).

At the time, I thought: "Oh, a spice rack with a local angle."

But over the past year I really started using these complex spice blends and they really added a lot to my cooking. Like, I just used the Persian Lime Curry Rub: [link]

...on my portabello mushrooms today and it was insanely tasty.

Which is just a longwinded way to say, sometimes those pro forma gifts pan out.

Also: More spices in 2016! (I know Amych will back me on this.)

And: Mushroom Fest In the Fall. I'm totally converted to the Italian/French obsession with autumnal mushrooms.

Actual Kit I received last year: [link]

Their Poivre La Mode variation on lemon pepper was SO good. I just used that in all my soups and stir fries and sautees and omelets.

But I DIDN'T realize that one guy surged ahead and took power three years ago and now it's all under his rule. President, Head of the CP, controls the army. Did you all know that?

I knew that! That's not actually unusual. Both Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin before him held all three posts. (Not Deng Xiaoping, though, which is noteworthy, as I'd argue he was more dominant than either Jiang or Hu in his day.)

However, both Jiang and Hu consolidated power gradually; for instance, Hu was President for two years before Jiang stepped down from heading the military. Xi Jinping has moved extremely quickly. The article is bang on when it notes the effect of Xi's anti-corruption campaign and the significance of Bo Xilai's fall. (Also note that over half of all academic grants from the National Social Sciences last year were for the study of Xi Jinping Thought. At one level, not unusual. Jiang Zemin had his policy principles written into the Constitution. But within the context of that article, well.)

That reminds me: the EdX courses I did on China have just started up again, if anyone's interested in taking them up. They've split it into two parts - the first is on China to the Ming Dynasty: [link] The second is on modern China, starting with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and continuing to today: [link] They're each split into five parts, which can be done individually and in any order.

I thought these courses were fantastic. They're very well taught, (I liked the stuff on pre-modern China better, possibly because it was less obvious that there was a lot they couldn't cover.)

There were some minor irritants at work this week, but they were overshadowed by a stellar potluck and the final arrival of my federal tax return. (My return was stolen earlier this year, and it's taken until now to straighten it out.) Money, food, a work-from-home day tomorrow, and a four day weekend. I'm feeling ok, and I hope everyone else's weeks improve--especially Ginger.

I think that having a small infant should mean I don't have to deal with gift giving this year. I wish there was a nice way to only buy for the kids in my life and tell all the adults they're out of luck.

I think that is a totally reasonable stand! But I guess you need family buy-in. Last year or the year before, my family started drawing names, which I thought would never happen. So change is possible! (Just my aunts opt-out, which is ridiculous, but we let it go...)

Oh, thanks for those course links, billytea! I like to imagine that I will be able to work a class like that into my schedule at some point...

I am feeling much better, to the point where I suspect that maybe I should set an alarm to take more nyquil in the middle of the night so my mornings aren't so bad. Although that seems kind of extreme.

I think I'll do nice chunky gift cards to restaurants for my faux-son and my SIL. They deserve nice nights out. Beyond that, there's no one to do presents for.

Geez, your return was stolen and it took all this time? That sucks. But yay it finally getting straightened out?

Timelies all!

I'm glad most of my friends have Amazon wish lists, so I don't have to go out to get them gifts. My parents, however....(I used to get them Barnes & Noble gift cards, but they got Kindles and don't buy paper books these days.)