Pencilling it in

Christmas got more complicated when I became Santa's liaison officer.

I may have mentioned this.

This year, I managed, for the most part, to stay on top of things, but still found myself nipping into the new book store in the Cook Street Village on Christmas Eve.  It's like a Tardis -- way bigger on the inside.

I found about half a dozen treasures for stocking-stuffing, a job that Santa delegated to me some years ago.  One thing I spotted was a package of delicate pink pencils, perfect for younger daughter, who, I am reasonably sure, still thinks Santa is fully responsible for Christmas stockings.

I checked in with her mid-morning on Christmas Day, asking what she like the best.  She liked a lot of things, showing them to me proudly --- except for the pencils.  They had, she informed me, "swear-words" on them.

To my carefully-concealed horror, I noticed, for the first time, the delicate gold letters on each pencil, forming short and sometimes, quite long variations on expressions containing the F-word.  I quietly took the pencils to my room and have spent some time scraping the lettering off.  It's embossed, of course, and is taking some time.

Merrying @&%ing Sixth Day of Christmas.