Arrowtown book buyer Miranda Spary continues her regular column about her recommendations for a good read and life as she sees it ...
I'm still in a state of shock.
My lovely (but maybe simple) editor said that he and a colleague of his feel sorry for my darling every week.
What are they thinking?
My darling is the luckiest husband in the whole world being married to beautiful, athletic, houseproud, organised me.
Oh whoops, that description could get me into trouble under the trades description laws.
OK, so he is married to a slovenly shrew, but really, beggars can't be choosers.
He is a great dancer though, and he has had his dancing feet on a lot this week.
He is especially agile when people like John Watson have filled him right to the very top with delicious French bubbles.
Those bubbles made him think we should then go to town for a few very marvellous Spire Hotel margaritas and after that a spot of roulette and poker at the casino. He happened to notice some excellent dancers there - Chris Dagg is not just a super-athlete and pretty Anna van Wichen is a very pretty dancer.
My darling decided he, too, was good at putting on a show.
Funny how margaritas make you feel so very able.
And the next night saw him shimmying away again. This time to the very sexy Sequin Sisters at The Hills' golf club.
They arrived in long sequinned dresses and as the night wore on, their dresses wore off, until they were dressed in teeny tiny little outfits.
The prize for the happiest man in the universe went to Tim McGeorge, who was manhandled (or should that be womanhandled?) on to the stage where they sang You Can Leave Your Hat On and writhed gently round him. It was glorious for him.
Lots and lots of people had a glorious moment on stage at the Montessori Nativity Play.
If there's anything more likely to bring a lump to your throat than a choir of preschoolers dressed as shepherds and angels waving to their adoring audience and fluffing their lines, I don't know what it is.
David Clarke at the Museum has been busy hanging all the paintings for this year's Christmas art exhibition.
Christine, Lady Hill, and Jenny Mehrtens have spent most of the year seeing the Wakatipu in ways I have never thought of, and have each created some brilliant paintings.
Christine's are mainly of tussocks, but not tussocks as you have ever seen before - they look like fireworks and are wonderfully energetic.
Jenny has done two different series - one of Chinese miners and another of local letter boxes in all their quirky guises.
This is going to be a hugely popular show and one that all your visitors will enjoy seeing, so do get along to it.
The museum is a great place to find even the most difficult person a Christmas present, especially if, like me, you are starting this tricky search now.
They've got all the best books, toys and cards you could ever need, and if you are really stuck, a donation to the museum on their behalf would be very much appreciated by both parties.
I know I would love that if I didn't want something much bigger.
All I usually ever want is books, but this year is different.
My big wish is for 2012 to be a fabulous year for everyone.
I can't wait for 2011 to be over, I have never known a year of such gutwrenching pain and heartbreak for so many people, and I would so love for them all to have a double dose of happiness and pleasure this coming year.
Hardly a week has gone by without someone I know having a terrible time, and enough is enough.
If you are planning to do all your Christmas shopping tomorrow, here are my top book tips.
Discussions about books with people you love always reveal so much about the readers, and books are the greatest gift to share with everyone.
Books like War Horse and The Silver Sword are brilliant for everyone in the family and a great opportunity to consider the importance of peace and justice. It is a bit easy living here to take those things for granted.
Unbroken, October Sky, Glass Castle, and The Forgotten Highlander as well as the brilliant new The Street Sweeper are more for adults and teenagers and are hugely inspirational stories of survival and persistence.
If you just want some little books on happiness and thoughtfulness, A Gift from the Sea, Marcus Aurelius' nearly 2000-year-old Meditations and the much more modern but very relevant Alphabet of the Human Heart are all terrific.
The cooks you know (or people like me who you wish were better cooks) will be delighted with Stephanie Alexander's kitchen bible or Annabel Langbein's latest and greatest Free Range in the City; or the little Penguin foodie series, a marvellous buy at only $12 each.
Have a wonderful Christmas day, and if yours is too full of the ghastly variety of relatives, go for a brisk walk or sneak off for a little peace and quiet with a book.
Whatever you do, enjoy it!
