such a good day

I've had such a good day.
It started with my valentines swap parcel arriving from the Heleen in the Netherlands. I was secretly hoping that the sneak peek on Heleens blog was one of the little matroushka that she has been making - well it wasn't just one - it was two!Heleen also sent me a stash of brightly coloured fabric, some embroidery silks, a piece of braiding, and some dutch chocolates which Mr Monda has reliably informed me was very nice (I'm saving some for later). Thank you very much Heleen - I hope you like your swap gift as much as I as like mine
As soon as I know Heleen has received her parcel, I will reveal what I made to send to her.

Next was my opticians appointment. As I suspected, I needed a slightly stronger prescription than last time (which was in 2003!). I only really wear glasses for about 40% of the time (for driving mostly, but also when my eyes are tired) but I'm seeming to rely on them more and more of late, especially at work. I spent a long time choosing new glasses - I tried on loads, and me and Mr Monda had a real laugh when I looked like either Nicky Hambleton Jones (a harsh look I think) or Alan A Allen (Rupert Grints character in the film Thunderpants)The opticians must hate people like me.
Anyway, after narrowing it down to three pairs, I was stuck for which to choose. They were buy one pair, get the second free, so I was planning on getting 2 pairs. After much deliberation (and a nice 50% discount from the optician) I bought 3 pairs of glasses! I'm not really a frivolous person, but today I threw caution to the wind, and it felt really good. Now this must say something about me mustn't it - probably that I'm a sad individual who gets her kicks from buying 3 pairs of glasses.
I'll pick them up next week, and may post a pic of my eyes with specs if I feel brave enough.

Another good thing about today was that the pesky time stealer was nowhere to be seen and I got so much done.
This monster is for another swap I'm doing (I'm swap crazy at the moment)
Quite a departure for me because this one is much bigger than my usual monsters and he was sewn mostly by machine. I usually hand sew my monsters right side out, but this one was done inside out and then turned out (does that make sense? I'm not really good at this technical speak).
Here he is with his smaller cousin:
I'm hoping for an equally productive day tomorrow. I'm off to eat my valentines swap chocolate now...