From Dragonfly: Cookies and Egg Nog

So, I've mentioned that the facility is all decorated for Christmas. There is a tree in the foyer, and another in the chow hall. They've wrapped a couple support beams in reddish paper and have a large box (empty) wrapped and with a nice bow. There are special commissary items - such as Christmas cookies, Christmas tree cakes, chocolate Christmas trees, laughing cow cheese, hot and spicy cheese-itz, hot and sweet sauce, bridge mix, caramel milky ways, raspberry thin mints, chocolate covered pretzels, peanut brittle, cliff bars, tuna with jalapenos, peanut butter snickers, chocolate covered coffee beans, soft batch cookies, junior mints, carnitas, and more on sale right now in the commissary - for just the months of November and December. They started sending out the list called "special Christmas items," but someone must have talked to them, because now the list is called "non-denominational holiday specials." Ha. Inmates are allowed an extra $25 per month to spend at commissary (in case the $320 limit they already have is not enough!). I do not spend close to the limit, now that I've been here for a couple months, but some people spend the limit every single month! They are not just buying for themselves, but for their "bills" --- paying the people who do their laundry, people they've 'bought' items from, etc. Some people spend their entire commissary on other people. (Which is not allowed, of course).

Today, the rumor is that there will be inmate recall at about 12:45pm. This means that my afternoon class will be cancelled and everyone, including the workers, have to go back to their housing units. Then, one unit at a time, we will be called to the chow hall to pick up a package of Christmas cookies (sugar-based cookies in tree designs with sprinkles) and a small bottle of egg nog. They do this every year. I guess next week, this will occur again and we will all receive a bag of candy.

Other than books, photos, cards, and letters we receive from the outside world in the mail, these will be our holiday gifts for the year. I received a wonderful holiday gift (Chanukah's) yesterday. Sporty and T.S. went to Walgreens.com and uploaded some pictures and made me a small "picture book" and had it shipped directly to me at Carswell. Since it came from an official store, and was in book form, it is allowed. These are wonderful ideas for your loved ones - you can use snapfish, walgreens, or any number of online sites to make picture books for your incarcerated family members. I know that mine brought me to tears --- it was full of pictures of Sporty and T.S. having fun - and their smiles made me smile!

Another friend sent me a couple books - good books! One is a daily reader called, "Peace One Day at a Time." It appears to be written for recovering alcoholics, but would apply to anyone. I read the daily reading out loud to my roommates as we wait for count each day. Yesterday's was about anger and one of my roommates got a lot from it. I keep the book on my pillow (like many people keep their bible) and that way I know I won't fail to read it every day.

Hope this gives people some ideas for the holidays. For me, I will be eating cookies and drinking egg nog this afternoon and thinking of all the people I am grateful for!